Hourglass [Quintessential Quintuplets]

| Part 1 Finale | Chapter 38 - For Whom the Bells Toll

Finding the Nakano Residence took less time than it took for this whole idea to start boring the hell out of me. My body already knew where it was going long before my mind could be bothered to care. The neighborhood is one of those rare and sterilized slices of the city where upper income magnates gather. 

Everything lines up perfectly with the information Fuutarou had given me... for now.
Tokyo isn't a place where I can get lost anymore.
If there ever was such a place left for that.

Once you learn a place well enough, it stops being a direction and start turning into sentences. Alleys turn into commas, intersections into conjunctions, and certain districts... those become exclamation marks to avoid no matter what. You walk, and the city reads itself to you whether you want it to or not. Nevertheless, the city has unveiled its secrets to me long time ago. I just stopped pretending to be surprised.

Tonight might end in a period or with a disaster.
I decided to leave the choice to the evening.
It tends to have... more imagination than people.

''Fuutarou-kun, you're late al—Eh? Ha...? AAAAAAAAAAAAH! W-W-W-W-WHAT?''

''. . .''

When I saw her collapsing on knees there in the entryway, I instinctively understood this must be the correct door. I had never bothered to memorize their house before but now this scene branded itself into my mind. Tonight would be different from every other night. That much is guaranteed. Different how is the only open question.

"...Ichika."

"K–Kazuma-kun?" Ichika slapped both her cheeks at the same time as if she could beat herself awake from a nightmare she'd been too proud to admit she is having. Her eyes were wide and somewhere between disbelief and shock. "W-W-What? H-How..."

Fuutarou had already briefed me on their situtation. According to his words; Star Girl and Butterfly Girl aren't supposed to be here tonight. While Ichika struggled to pull herself together and stand on her own feet, others also came to see what all this commotion is about. 

Curiosity moves faster than dignity.
Tch, idiots.

''O-Oya! Kurosawa-san? What are you doing here?'' Another voice cut in. One that bright, buoyant, and shamelessly nosy. Green ribbons filled my field of vision as Yotsuba hooked an arm under Ichika's and hauled her to her feet. "Hehe, watch your step, Ichika! You'll bruise your knees doing that~"

Another third figure approached closer at a slower pace from deeper inside the hall. Headphones resting around her neck like a fashion accessory that forgot its job. The music isn't even on; they're just there for comfort or image. Miku mutters constantly under breath in a stream of whispers that never quite turn loud. "Now I get it. So, that was Fuutarou's plan..."

"Kurosawa-san, w-we're glad you came, but our tutors could arrive at any moment! You can't—"

''They won't. I've been asked to be your tutor today.