Next Heartbeat

The Minds of Quintuplets

The Minds of Quintuplets

"How is your café au lait?" Miku asked as she and Kaede were in the middle of their breakfast—er, brunch date. It seemed that the café staff decided to call it a brunch special that day since it was popular enough with many customers and the suggestions the staff received to have a breakfast special until 3 PM lately.

Kaede nodded. "It's not bad, but it'll be a while before I get used to this taste."

"Really?" Miku replied. When Kaede gave another nod, Miku pulled the drink closer to her and took a sip from the straw. "It's not sweet, so that's good enough in my opinion." She looked up and saw Kaede staring at her. "What is it?"

"Indirect kiss," Kaede smiled as he said this. "I'm happy." He finished off his ham sandwich.

Miku blushed at the fact she gave an indirect kiss in public, but she was also happy. Seeing Kaede's smile had brought out how much she loved him. She must've overestimated her ability to express herself.

Before she could stop herself any more than she wanted to, Miku stood up from her seat and said, "Kaede, let's go to the supermarket."

Kaede looked up and blinked. "? Sure. Did you want to buy something in particular?"

"Mainly stocking up on ingredients for the restaurant Nino and I run, but there's something else."

Since he had no idea what else Miku had in mind, Kaede nodded. "Okay."

When Kaede stood up, the two of them walked together and engaged in a conversation. Some of the other customers stared at them and talked amongst themselves, but Miku and Kaede paid no mind. They were content being together.

Sentaro wasn't sure what the change in Nino's mood was while they were in Toshiki's apartment.

The quintuplet announced, "Let's go to the supermarket. We need to get some groceries to put in the fridge and there are things I need to get for the restaurant Miku and I run. You're always visiting Toshiki whenever you're both available, so do him a favor and buy some items during the day."

Sentaro wanted to retort to show how angry Nino's words made him, but he gave a long sigh and said, "Fine. I'll help carry what Toshi needs."

Toshiki was amused to see how much Sentaro was putting up with Nino while they walked out of his apartment. He went ahead and used his keys to lock the doors and felt something light within himself.

The supermarket came into view just around the corner and the three of them turned left. The automatic doors opened and a few of the staff welcomed them in. Nino found a shopping cart and strolled into the produce section to search for vegetables and some fruits. Apparently, Nino wanted to stock up on fruits for desserts while some of the vegetables were going to be for both the restaurant and Toshiki's fridge. Sentaro argued that there would be too much to carry to both places.

Nino sighed. "You don't have a backup plan, do you?"

"I don't think we need to buy much for lunch and dinner," Sentaro said.

Nino took out her phone and dialed a number. When the person she called picked up, she said, "Hello? Ebata-san? Good timing. I'm out shopping for some groceries for the restaurant Miku and I run. Do you mind driving over the supermarket?" Nino paused and listened. "Which one, you ask? Do you remember Toshiki Kasumi's apartment? It's the supermarket close by. Yes, that one! Understood, see you after we're done with shopping." She hung up and said, "No need to worry about how we'll carry everything. Ebata-san's on the way."