At dinner, Maruo Nakano arrived as scheduled, his face as stoic as ever. He sat across from Nino and spoke in his usual clinical tone.
"Nino-kun, what did you want to discuss?"
"Well, the first exam results came out. We... our grades have improved a lot." Nino spoke with a bit of a guilty conscience. They had technically improved, but there was still a massive mountain to climb.
"Oh? How did you do?" Maruo already knew their grades through his school contacts, but he played dumb to see what she would say.
Nino looked away, sweating slightly. "We... we passed. Every subject was passed."
In her head, she added: Between the five of us, we covered every subject.
"So... can Ichika come back now?"
Maruo didn't call her out on the lie. Their grades had improved. He didn't know what methods Rin and his friend used, but they were getting results. However, he knew Nino saw Rin as the "boyfriend" who had stolen their sister and broken up the family.
Nino was the most temperamental of the five. If she hated Rin too much, it might backfire. Maruo considered telling her the truth, but if she blabbed to the others, the motivation might vanish. He decided to tell her a half-truth.
"Nino-kun, promise me you won't tell the others what I'm about to say."
"Huh? Why so serious? Okay, fine." Nino nodded.
Maruo leaned in. "Actually, I've known Rin for a long time. I knew he was Ichika's boyfriend, and I approved of it."
"What? But... that night... was that all an act? Why would you...?" Nino was flustered. The fight between Ichika, Rin, and Maruo in the restaurant had seemed so real.
"It was a plan Rin and I came up with to test if Ichika was truly chasing a dream or just running away from school. Do you really think I'd just kick her out and leave her in the hands of a stranger?"
"Oh... I see." Nino breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were genuinely angry."
"Eat your dinner. I've only told you this. Don't tell the others."
Nino picked up her chopsticks, but her mind wasn't on the food. It was on Rin. She had viewed him as the villain who tore her family apart. But if it was all an act...
It made sense why he had used his "leverage" to make them study rather than something perverted. Her opinion of him shifted. Maruo, of course, had no idea that the sisters had dressed as Ichika to "seduce" Rin, nor that Rin had stolen their first kisses and fingered them to multiple orgies.
"By the way, Father... do you support Ichika becoming an actress?"
"If she is serious about it, yes. I support all of you," Maruo said. "But you cannot use dreams as an excuse to avoid learning."
Nino laughed awkwardly. That was exactly what she had been thinking. She realized she was lost when it came to her own future. Her only real goal was keeping the five of them together.
After dinner, Maruo's driver took Nino back to their luxury apartment while he went back to the hospital. When Nino entered, the place was empty; Miku and the others were still at Ichika's.
The silence hit her hard. She collapsed onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling. Is this my future?
No Ichika to tease her, no Miku to complain about her using her tracksuit as an apron, no Yotsuba talking about her clubs, no Itsuki fighting her for the remote. Just her. Alone.
Loneliness and emptiness flooded her heart. I'm so lonely... no wonder Ichika wanted a boyfriend.
A boyfriend... according to her father, Rin was actually a great guy. He didn't dress well, but he was actually pretty handsome. She didn't have anyone to compare him to, but his kissing was incredible. And his fingers... they were so much better than her own when she played with herself in the dark. That day, he had barely touched her and she had...
"Aaaaahhh!!! Nino Nakano, what the hell are you thinking!?"
She might have a better opinion of Rin now, but that didn't mean she was okay with him tasting her tongue or touching her hymen!
"No, I won't admit it. He still took Ichika away!" She tried to convince herself. "His kissing isn't 'good,' I just have nothing to compare it to! Others must be better! And he's not even that hot—no tattoos, no cool piercings, just plain black hair."
And his fingers... his technique... I was just sensitive because it had been a while since I'd masturbated! Yes! That's it!
She scoffed. "A mere man... as if he could know my body better than I do!"
Thinking about it made her heart race. It had been two weeks of non-stop studying. Now that she was alone...
Nino cautiously lifted her pleated school skirt. Her face flushed with lust as she reached down to her panties.
Click.
The sound of the electronic lock being opened made her jump out of her skin.