The Nakano residence...
"Nino, is Yotsuba still not home?"
Seated at the table, Itsuki asked with a puzzled tilt of her head, multitasking between reviewing her schoolwork and munching on a large meat bun.
"Yeah, not a hair of her to be seen yet. But don't go worrying; she's always like this, isn't she? The second a club asks for a favor, she doesn't have the heart to say no. She insists on being so 'nice' that she lets everyone work her to the bone. I've told her a thousand times, but she never changes. There's really nothing we can do about it..."
A beautiful girl with pink hair—whose face was a 90% match to Itsuki's—stood clad in an apron. This was Nino. With a spatula in one hand and a frying pan in the other, she was preparing dinner with a heavy maternal aura, though her voice carried an edge of exasperation toward her sister's nature.
If Izuru were here, he would have recognized her instantly by the twin butterfly ribbons tied in her hair and the white socks hugging her slender legs—the second-born of the Nakano quintuplets, Nino Nakano!
"True... munch!"
Itsuki nodded and took another bite of her bun. She flipped through a first-year high school textbook she had used before, reading it with a speed that suggested she practically knew the contents by heart.
Noticing this, Nino remarked with a hint of annoyance, "Dinner's almost ready. Itsuki, stop stuffing your face with meat buns before the meal, or you're going to get even fatter!"
Itsuki froze. Even her hand, midway to her mouth with the half-eaten bun, stayed paralyzed in mid-air.
As much as she loathed admitting it, she was self-conscious. More accurately, she had grown so accustomed to being teased about her weight by "that person" that she had started acting like a girl in love; she was hypersensitive about the scale for fear of being disliked by a boy. It had become a literal nervous reflex!
"Shut up! I am not getting fatter! Besides, I've always maintained my figure perfectly. I'm just a little more 'well-developed' than the rest of you. Honestly, can a beautiful girl even be called fat? It's called being curvaceous!"
At Itsuki's flimsy defense, Nino merely narrowed her eyes with a deadpan stare, clearly finding the logic absurd.
"Right, right. Just 'well-developed.' Except for the part where you weigh 5.6 kilograms more than the average of the five of us..."
"I-it's not that much!"
Nino's jab landed like a ten-ton mental hammer. Itsuki found herself unable to find a comeback, her voice dissolving into a stutter.
"That stuff doesn't matter..."
Miku, who was perched on the sofa, slid her headphones down to rest around her neck. She took a satisfying sip of her matcha soda before speaking in her usual calm, flat tone.
"Anyway, is Yotsuba really not back yet? It's getting late. Has anyone tried calling her?"
"How can you say that doesn't matter?!"
Itsuki's lip twitched as she yelled, caught between embarrassment and indignation.
However, both Nino and Miku ignored her in perfect synchronization.
"I tried calling her earlier, but she didn't pick up—the call went straight to voicemail. Looks like she turned on 'Do Not Disturb.' But she just sent a text saying the club stuff is finished and she's on her way home. Looking at the clock, she should be here any second..."
*CLICK!*
"I'm home!"
Right as Nino finished her sentence, the door swung open. Yotsuba's voice rang out, energetic as ever despite a hint of exhaustion.
"Finally back? What took you so long?" Nino asked, her tone part-scolding, part-caring, as she brought the dishes to the dining table.
"Sorry, sorry! I was helping the basketball club pack up their gear..."
Yotsuba gave a small laugh, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.
Nino could only sigh in resignation. "Fine, whatever. But you're covered in sweat, so go shower before you eat. And wake up Ichika while you're at it—don't let her sleep the night away!"
"On it~!"
Yotsuba chirped, skipping playfully toward the bathroom. But as she passed Itsuki, she let out a cry of surprise.
"Itsuki, are you reading a new textbook? You're being so studious~!"
"It's not a new book; it's from our first year. Our second-year books haven't been handed out yet, remember? Or have you already forgotten everything from first year to the point you don't even recognize the cover?"
Itsuki looked at Yotsuba—who was currently acting like a curious toddler—with a flat, unimpressed expression.
"So that's a first-year book? I saw Itsuki looking so serious I thought she was reading a novel. I didn't realize it was schoolwork..."
Looking at the book in Itsuki's hands, Miku's usually monotonous voice sounded a bit surprised and confused.
"Studying first-year material right before dinner? Reviewing your lessons? Itsuki, are you actually taking studying that seriously?!"
Nino's reaction was even more dramatic. She wore an expression of sheer horror and disbelief, as if she had just witnessed "a caveman walk into an internet cafe to play Devil May Cry 4 on the highest difficulty."
"Hey! You guys are being mean! Is it a crime for me to study? Out of the five of us, haven't I always been the one who tries the hardest?"
Itsuki stomped her foot in frustration.
Nino only smiled without saying a word. Yotsuba trotted toward Ichika's room with a bright grin, while Miku simply shook her head in amusement, her silence saying: 'You know exactly what we're thinking.'
Seeing their reactions, Itsuki puffed out her cheeks in a pout. With her beautiful features, the grumpy look was undeniably cute.
But despite her outward anger, Itsuki was internally cheering with joy.
{Hehehe, the 'reborn' me is completely different. I'm no longer the idiot student who studies until she cries with nothing to show for it. I'm now a high school graduate with enough brains to get into university...}
{Besides, everything today went exactly like I remembered. Yotsuba came home late because of club activities, Ichika was home asleep, and Miku and Nino haven't acted strangely at all...}
{Only I, because I have memories of my past life, have acted differently from my sisters. Not only did I avoid a fight with the President, but I even managed to leave a good impression on him!}
{But wait, why did the President leave so early this time? Oh, right—it must be because he has no experience talking to girls, so he got shy and walked away fast...}
{The President is so cute!}