Hourglass [Quintessential Quintuplets]

Chapter 28 - The Melancholy of Nakano Nino

Nino's POV:

''Asuka, please give me something with alcohol in it... God, why did I even saw her?''

I slump forward and rest my elbows on the bar, hiding behind my sleeves. As if pulling the fabric up over half my face will make me disappear. It doesn't. I can still feel their eyes on me—my sisters, Uesugi, Asuka. All of them staring. All of them probably trying to figure out what kind of fucked up emotional wreck I am.

"Let's calm down first, yeah? I'd get into real trouble for serving you. You're still underage."

I've been turning this stupid thing over in my head for hours, this weight that's been sitting on my heart since the morning. I'm supposed to be angry. I know I'm supposed to be angry. The problem is that I can't find the anger anywhere, no matter how deep I dig. I've chased my own thoughts in so many circles that I don't even remember where I started. All that's left is this stupid heaviness pressing down on my ribcage.

Everyone around me has gone so quiet, so careful, like the simple act of me opening my mouth is something out of the ordinary. Yotsuba, Itsuki, Miku, even that annoying Uesugi. Each of them keeps glancing over at me and then glancing away, treating me like a glass sculpture that'll shatter the second someone leans too close.

"...Nino..." Yotsuba sets her glass down on the counter and turns toward me with that look of hers, that strange clumsy sympathy that only she can pull off without making it feel fake. "Do you want to tell us what happened? We'll all listen. Every one of us."

Do I really look that terrible?

I reach into my jacket and pull out my compact mirror — the one I usually keep for reapplying lipstick or fixing flyaways. But the face looking back at me isn't a problem any makeup is going to solve. There's a wetness on my cheeks that's been bothering me for a while now, getting more and more irritating with every second that passes. What the hell even is it?

''...Am I crying?''

"Nino!" Itsuki raises out of her seat before I finish the sentence and wraps me up in those soft arms of hers. It's not the first time she's hugged me like this but this time it lands differently. This time I think I actually need it. "I am here. I'm right here, okay?"

I press my forehead into her chest and let my arms come up around her back, and I just hold on. She's warm. ''...'' Another pair of arms wraps around me from behind. When I turn my head, it's Miku that who was holding me without saying anything.

''Uesugi-san, what do we do now? Nino has never been like this before.''

''Let Nino decide that, Yotsuba. If she wants to go back to her room, we can all accompany her.''

"Nah, I don't wanna cut the night short 'cause of me. Thanks for considering it though... Uesugi."

''U-Uesugi—? This is the first time you've called me by my name in weeks.''

Don't read into it, dumbass. I just don't have the energy to mess with you. Also I owe you one. You and Miku both, for sitting with me, for keeping watch while I shut myself off from the entire world. Shit. Never thought there'd come a day I'd actually thank this dork.

Itsuki's arms slowly keep tightening around me and I know by now I should find it suffocating. Instead I pray for it to last a little longer. ''Nobody's going to force you to talk, Nino. But please remember we're your sisters. You can tell us anything. All of it. Whatever it is.''

Asuka remains silent as everyone else tries to console me. With Itsuki and Miku blocking my view, I can't tell what he's doing or if he even cares about my problems. It's kinda disappointing because I always thought he was the one who would try to comfort me the most, that's just who he is.