Yotsuba, Come and Save Us!

On the field, students from the athletic club sweated under the autumn sky.

"Okay, let's take a short break~"

Coming to a slow stop, Yotsuba and the other members shouted a response to the athletic club president on the field edge.

"Yes!"

Slowly walking towards the resting place, she greeted the other members and sat where her belongings were placed.

Towel, bottled water, baton, handkerchief – the last two seemed a bit excessive, but Yotsuba still brought them.

As she took a sip of water, the club manager came with her phone.

"Yotsuba, there's a message on your phone~"

"Thanks for reminding me!"

Yotsuba took the phone with a smile, and the strong expression of gratitude made others unable to hold back laughter, poking the hair tie on her head.

After teasing her for a while, the club manager returned to her position, while Yotsuba placed her phone on her lap.

According to the rules, during club activities, members could choose to hand over their phones to the manager for safekeeping or put them in their school bags. In short, they were not allowed to use phones during breaks. To prevent important messages from being missed, most people would choose to use their phones for centralized storage. Once messages appeared, the manager would immediately inform the others.

"Hah~ who is it~"

Yotsuba wiped the sweat from her body with a towel. Then she refilled her body with water and clicked on the message.

"Ichika?"

Yotsuba remembered that her work for this afternoon seemed to have been moved to tomorrow.

So now, Ichika should be like Nino and the others...

As she thought about it, words in the dialogue box also began to appear.

[Yotsuba, are you really not coming? If Itsuki loses to Fumino, she will help Shinichi-kun give the support speech. Are you willing to miss this opportunity to give her significant assistance?]

"Well..."

Yotsuba hesitated, but a bit of helplessness came out of her mouth.

Her fingertip clicked on the screen, and the response message was sent quickly.

[No problem, I'm sure Itsuki can do it! And it's okay if Fumino wins; we have to respect Asada-san's choice, no matter who helps!]

[Is that what you really think? In my opinion, the most suitable person to support Shinichi-kun is Yotsuba]

Yotsuba hesitated, and her eyes were filled with determination.

[Yes, that's what I think]

After a while, Ichika read it and there were no further messages.

When Yotsuba was about to put her phone down and continue practicing on the field, another message appeared.

It seemed like she spent more time just typing those two sets of words.

[You clearly shouted to be Shinichi-kun's partner before, but now you're so indifferent to it. Yesterday, when you heard Itsuki competing with Fumino for the support speech, you didn't react at all and went back to your room. You don't even want to come and see now]

[So, Detective Love Ichika concludes that there must be something happening between you and Shinichi-kun, and it just happened! Quickly, tell Onee-san honestly!]

Yotsuba bowed her head in front of the phone, unable to hide her guilt.

The bond among the quintuplets was truly terrifying, and this was already evident.

She typed a few stiff words after a while.

[Not at all]

Faced with the phone, Yotsuba could lie flawlessly.

After making the decision, she decided to ignore the response messages.

Staring at the not-so-bad sky, trying to calm her emotions, Yotsuba sighed softly.

"What am I doing..."

Since the day it was confirmed that Shinichi was a playboy who liked many girls, Yotsuba couldn't regulate her mood.

She didn't want to blame him, and she couldn't hate him yet; she even liked his honesty, face, and bravery that wouldn't disappoint her.

Shinichi had matured. The person who was once helpless on a powerless bench, with a hurting heart but trying too hard not to be touched, was no longer there.

Yotsuba should be happy about that.

But she couldn't, with her stable daily life.

After completing volunteer club activities, Yotsuba in a cowardly manner, chose to keep her distance and focus on the upcoming sports festival to prevent herself from thinking carelessly.

The words "I don't want to support him anymore" were Yotsuba's final protest and the last barrier to protect herself.

"Anyway, Ichika and the others are still here. Asada-san won't be lonely. It doesn't matter if I'm not here."

Thinking like this, her mood never improved.

Yotsuba raised her head and gulped water a few times; she choked because she drank too much, causing the members around her to worry.

"I-I'm fine, thanks for your concern! I'll practice now!"

She wiped her mouth, put the towel and water bottle down, and was about to hand her phone to the manager to keep it safe.

Another message appeared.

Initially, Yotsuba wanted to pretend not to see it, but with a strange combination, her eyes unintentionally glanced at the words displayed on the screen.

Seeing this, her pupils shrank, and her eyes widened with a horrified expression.

From the implicit content, it seemed like she could hear Ichika's cries for help.

[Oh no! Oh no! Shinichi-kun said he wanted to date the winner of the interview, the one who gave the support speech, with the condition of marriage!]

[Itsuki immediately lost because of an empty stomach, Fumino is now laughing proudly, Miku turned into a witch, and Nino is holding a murder weapon to drag Shinichi-kun to the toilet. To protect Shinichi-kun, Kirisu Sensei is about to use freezing rays on Nino!]

[The situation is critical, Yotsuba, come and save us!]

"No, no, no, no!? Ichika, are you kidding? This isn't a novel plot; how can something so exaggerated happen?"

Yotsuba held her phone confusedly, not knowing how to respond to these two messages. Her mind was chaotic, and she couldn't calm down to think at all.

Her expression was noticed by the athletic club president next to her. She frowned in confusion and walked towards her.

"Yotsuba, what's wrong? Is something happening at home?"

(I also want to know!)

Clutching her phone tightly, Yotsuba stuttered.

"That, President, I..."