The Quintessential Quintuplets: Marching Forward

Chapter Two: Hawaii Part Two

~Futaro~

They returned to the hotel with a strong, healthy tan and sand everywhere. The girls had a large beach towel wrapped across their bodies, and Futaro had found the chance to change into clothes that weren't wet. They entered the lobby and made their way to the elevator, quickly followed by a pair of concierges. They cleaned the errant sand that sprinkled from their bodies with a broom in hand. Futaro felt slightly bad, but there was nothing that could be done. Perhaps this was just routine for them. He tried thanking them in broken English, but he was unsure if they understood him.

All five of the sister's hair was sandy and split with salt and sun, and no amount of scrubbing with fresh water would help them. They needed showers, and Futaro knew better than to get in between a Nakano and her shower.

"Oh, man! I'm tired! Hope you don't mind if I shower first!" Yotsuba rushed in before the others. It was just as well. Futaro and the rest were struggling just to get through the door.

"How does she have so much energy!" He cried out.

Nino and Itsuki giggled, "that's right, Futaro. You haven't been around us all the time during vacation. She's always like this." She smiled warmly as a mother would.

"As a matter of fact, I'm glad that we were able to go on this trip. We all barely graduated."

"No, you barely graduated," Futaro corrected her. "You other sisters were perfectly on track to graduate, and we all stayed behind from our senior trip to help you study some more."

Ichika scratched the back of her head, "Aww! Why do you have to say it like that! It makes me feel bad."

Miku shook a finger at her eldest sister, "You have to take things seriously now, Ichika. With your career? This is what you care about after all, isn't it?"

Nino dried her hair with a soft purple towel, "Hey Futaro, would you mind getting me my drink?"

"Ah, me too, Uesugi-kun," Itsuki poked her head inside from the balcony. "Actually, might as well just get all of ours, please? There's one in there for you too."

He paused. Futaro? What's her angle? He tried to catch her eye, but whenever he did, she'd turn around to face away from him.

"Sure," He hesitated.

Five drinks were inside the fridge, a canned frappuccino, green tea, two orange juices, and a latte.

"Okay, so, Ichika, Miku, Yotsuba... ah, here's Itsuki."

I'm surprised Itsuki didn't just bring a package of curry roux to mix with water. He decided to keep his mean-spirited joke to himself. He noticed that one drink was missing.

"Where's Nino's drink... Oh, right," Futaro talked to himself. He reached for the bottle on the countertop where he'd placed her drink the day before—room temperature. Of course.

He returned to the living room and distributed the drinks amongst the four girls.

"Thank you, Futaro," Miku smiled, "It's nice that you remember our drinks."

He waved the compliment away, "Well, I've been trying better at noticing more than just your study habits. Besides, it's Itsuki was the one that brought them."

"Well, it's better late than never, Futaro," Nino took a deep swig from her drink, then she slammed it on the center living room table with a hard thud. "I can't do it."

"What?" Miku raised an eyebrow.

"I can't call you 'Futaro.' It's weird!" Nino frowned, staring at her bottle of water.