Today was Friday, and tomorrow was Saturday.
Therefore, the atmosphere at Sobu High School was lively this afternoon.
Sobu High School had weekly holidays, but often, many people would feel sluggish on Mondays. This situation could last for a day or two, and then on Fridays, their spirits would immediately rise.
Just like most social animals these days.
However, there were always those who were different and didn't fit in.
Like the girl next to Haruto: Nakano Itsuki.
She was a diligent student.
Her serious attitude in class was enough to embarrass everyone, but her grades made the teachers worried.
However, recently, the grades of the quintuplets in the Nakano family had improved. Although they had only just reached the passing line, it was a significant step forward for them.
Even Yotsuba passed the makeup exam.
School ended in the afternoon.
Haruto and Itsuki walked out of the classroom one after the other and headed toward the library.
On their way down, Miku joined the group.
When they arrived at the library, they saw Nino and Ichika already sitting by the window. There were books on the table, but they were both playing with their phones.
"I'm going to return this book."
Miku said that, then left with a book in her arms.
If nothing unexpected happened, this girl would soon return with a stack of books she was interested in.
Haruto turned his gaze and walked toward the window.
Nino heard the footsteps and instinctively turned to look. When she saw it was Haruto, her eyes lit up and she shifted her body.
Although she didn't speak, Haruto could clearly understand Nino's intent.
"Sit next to me."
The two girls sat on one side, and they were also sitting inside near the window.
Now came the problem.
Who should he sit next to?
It seemed the answer was obvious.
Without hesitation, Haruto sat next to Nino, while Itsuki sat across from him.
Itsuki took out her book, the ahoge on her head swaying slightly, and said, "Miku went to return the book and will be back soon. Yotsuba has club activities today, so she won't be coming."
"Let's get started."
"Wait a minute." Ichika put down her phone and said, "I've discovered a very serious issue in the past few days."
Nino paused for a moment and then realized: "Ichika, are you talking about the rumors on the Internet?"
Is everything on the Internet known to everyone now?
Haruto slightly raised an eyebrow and looked at Ichika.
Ichika glanced at him, then shook her head and said with a smile: "Not that, it's actually about Itsuki~"
"Me?"
Itsuki's ahoge suddenly stood up, then she panicked and stammered: "What are you talking about, Ichika? I'm fine."
Nino: "😐"
Haruto: "😐"
Her wandering eyes, flushed cheeks, and stammering speech were telltale signs. Itsuki might as well have written "I'm hiding something" directly on her face!
If everything was fine, don't feel guilty!
Seeing Haruto's gaze, Itsuki expressed that she was very upset.
Ichika blinked: "Itsuki seems to have a guilty conscience?"
Haruto tapped the table: "This is study time. No chatting. Now, take out your books. From now on, we're preparing for university entrance exams. You don't want to fail and have to keep taking them, do you?"
Nino crossed her arms and hummed softly: "I'm not taking the exams."
Ichika got annoyed and complained: "Kuromori-kun, you're too much! You're clearly looking down on us!"
"That's right!" Itsuki quickly nodded: "Kuromori-kun is bullying me."
"Huh?" Haruto squinted at Itsuki.
Itsuki looked away guiltily and hesitantly said: "Well... it's about time, let's start quickly."
"Don't worry, Itsuki~"
Ichika hugged Itsuki's waist and touched the flesh on her sides, noticing that Itsuki seemed to have lost a little weight in that area recently.
There was less flesh.
But she wasn't sure, so she just checked.
Although Itsuki's waist was always off-limits, it was an even more restricted area.
In short, the ahoge couldn't be touched. If it had to be touched, Itsuki would reluctantly agree, but the waist was an absolute no-go.
Even Haruto had gotten hit for that.
But as a sister, Ichika could sneak a touch.
Itsuki's body shuddered, she grabbed Ichika's cool hand, then gritted her teeth in embarrassment and anger and glared at Ichika: "What are you doing, Ichika?"
Ichika didn't respond to Itsuki but looked at Haruto and said with a serious expression: "Kuromori-kun, this is serious."
"?"
Ichika said earnestly: "Itsuki has really lost weight! That's right, our dear Itsuki has really lost weight!"
"Her waist doesn't feel as soft as before, and it's not as sweet either."
"This isn't good."
Haruto looked at Itsuki curiously.
Itsuki blushed and glared at him.
Compared to the usually fierce Nino, Itsuki was quite fierce in this situation!
Haruto turned away: "So what?"
Ichika blinked: "It's strange for Itsuki to lose weight, so there must be a reason behind it."
Itsuki felt deflated, and her ahoge drooped guiltily: "I just haven't had a good appetite lately!"
Nino thought for a moment and said, "Is it because you miss Mom too much?"
"Mm."
Itsuki nodded quickly, subtly glancing at Haruto.
In truth, it wasn't just because she missed her mother, but also because of Haruto. Even though she said it was okay, she couldn't help but lose weight, so she was secretly trying to slim down.
"I think so too~"
Ichika looked at Itsuki's guilty expression. Among the quintuplets, the worst liar was definitely Itsuki.
Something was suspicious.
However, now wasn't the time to investigate why Itsuki was secretly losing weight. What was more important was something else they were all worried about.
"Is it really because Itsuki misses Mom too much?"
Ichika looked at her sisters: "The weekend is coming. Have you found anything?"
The girls shook their heads.
They all knew what Ichika was talking about.
While Ichika was working away, she once met someone who looked almost identical to Nakano Rena, nearly exactly alike.
Although they knew it wasn't their mother, they still wanted to find her.
So, they came up with the idea to search.
Unfortunately, despite their thorough observations and search efforts, the results had been fruitless.
"What about Miku?"
Ichika looked at Miku who was walking toward them.
Miku shook her head slightly and sat next to Itsuki.
"Nothing found?" Ichika suddenly turned her gaze to Haruto, tapped the table lightly, and said seriously: "Kuromori-kun, it's your turn to talk now."
Seeing everyone looking at him with anticipation, Haruto put down his phone and spoke directly without any pretense: "I did find something, but it's a bit far from Chiba City, in a place called Itomori Town."
"Itomori Town?"
The room suddenly fell silent.
Haruto raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at the subtle expressions on the girls' faces: "What's wrong?"