"Wrong. Try again."

It was Saturday.

"D...Diffraction!"

"Wrong. Try again."

It was Saturday, and there were two days left until the first exam. Two days left until the culmination of Yotsuba's efforts. Two days left until we would have the final verdict on whether she had succeeded -- or succumbed to the ever-present threat of failure.

"Um... reflection?"

"Wrong. One more time."

Yet even as I sat on the couch in the Nakano apartment, my gaze locked onto Yotsuba's scrunching face, my main concern wasn't her academic prowess. In fact, in that moment, it was the furthest thing from my mind.

"Geez... uh... oh, wait. The light is bending... refraction?"

"Correct. Next card."

Instead, I was entirely preoccupied with the sheer exhaustion that was written across her face.

I'd arrived at the Pentagon early Saturday morning, and we'd gotten straight to work. A spread of snacks in front of us, gaps opened up on the coffee table -- we'd fallen into our usual pattern near effortlessly. Yet, as the hours slipped us by, absorbed seamlessly into the time-eating lope of constant activity, the small ball of worry in my stomach grew only stronger and stronger.

She needs to actually sleep.

Miku was holed up in her room, presumably spending time virtually with her friend in Tokyo, while Ichika and Itsuki had both independently left the house. While I was perfectly happy to have one-on-one study time with Yotsuba, the arrangement we found ourselves in had once again left us stuck with Nino as the only other person in the room.

Luckily, thus far, she'd managed to mostly keep her comments to herself.

"Um... Uesugi-san, I don't think I totally understand what this 'critical angle' thing is -- why is there a hard cut-off for when light has total internal reflection?"

"Look, it's in the math itself..."

As I explained Snell's law to Yotsuba, I could feel Nino's eyes occasionally glancing over at us. Or, maybe at me. It made my skin prickle slightly -- but there was nothing to be done. I had more important issues to deal with; helping Yotsuba to study.

Though, perhaps an even higher priority was getting Yotsuba to rest.

As my eyes traced the contours of her face while I spoke, as they ran along the curve of her cheeks and the fullness of her lips, I could see the signs of her exhaustion, the strain of unrelenting effort. It seemed as though the intervening night since she'd announced her intention to focus on studying had done nothing to blunt the edge of her sleep deprivation.

If anything, the problem almost seemed worse.

"I think I see... so, it's the incident angle that allows a refraction angle of pi-over-two... that... that makes sense, I supp--"

"Yotsuba," I said quietly.

There was a moment of silence as I cut her off, Yotsuba just blinking at me. Then, tilting her head slightly, she looked at me inquisitively.

"Um... yes?"

"Don't take this the wrong way," I murmured, "but... let's stop. You need to rest."

"H-huh? Don't be silly, Uesugi-san -- I'm totally fine! I can handle at least this much!"

As she spoke, she dramatically flexed her bicep, grasping it with her hand. I silently raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. Yotsuba's eyes, trained on me, wavered... and then she looked back down at her textbook, slumping.

"Really... I'm fine," she murmured.

"I'm worried about you," I said softly. "I'm not blind. I can see that you're not recovered from what you were putting yourself through, trying to study and train at the same time. Your focus is shot, and your long-term productivity is going to deteriorate too."

"I can do this," Yotsuba said, gritting her teeth slightly. "I'm fine, Uesugi-san. I can keep going. I can't afford to take any breaks. It's... If I take too much time off, I won't make it."

"If you don't allow yourself to sleep, you also won't make it."

"You don't know that," she said, shaking her head vigorously. "I need to get as much studying in as possible. I didn't go to the track camp... and so, I owe it to Eba-san. I owe it to myself, too. I only have a set amount of time, and I need to use that time to make up for how far behind I am."

"I do know it," I said, frowning. "We had a similar situation when we were studying for the midterms -- and I was right back then. I'm right now."

"But I can't afford--"

"Yotsuba," I said, a harsh note inadvertently creeping its way into my voice. "If you keep going on this route you've chosen -- continually sacrificing your health in the name of achieving your goals -- it will eventually come back to bite you in the ass. Do you want to pass out during an exam, and fail by not finishing?"

"I--"

"Do you want to collapse on the track at the meet?"

Yotsuba seemed to falter, her jaw clenched as she looked away from me. I could tell she was wavering -- the look in her eyes, the hunch of her shoulders. I'd known her long enough to see the signs of her being on the edge.

The signs that she was on the verge of giving in.

"Don't make me bring out the big guns," I growled.

She turned to look at me, her eyes narrowed. "...What does that mean?"

I leaned back on the couch, and glanced behind me at my secret weapon. "Hey, Nino, can you help me with this?"

Yotsuba's eyes widened. "Wait, hang on-- Uesugi-san, that's playing dirty, I--"

Nino glanced up from her phone over at the kitchen table, and looked over at me. There was a complicated look on her face -- a layer of emotion that I wasn't totally sure I understood. That said, after a moment of silence, she sighed, and put her phone face-down on the table, the case clattering against the lacquered wooden surface.

Then, she rose, and walked over to the back of the couch. Glancing over at me, she flashed a brief scowl, and then looked down at Yotsuba's hunched over form. Reaching forward, she grasped each of Yotsuba's cheeks with her hands, and gently pulled her sister's head back until she was looking directly up at her.

"Yotsuba?" she said quietly.

"Y-Yesh?" Yotsuba squeaked, her cheeks squished by Nino's hands.

"Go take a nap. I really hate to admit it, but Uesugi's right. You've been overdoing it."

"No, I..."

"Yotsuba," Nino said, a hard tone entering her voice. "You're going to pass out if you keep this up. I'm worried about you -- and I know the others are too. You're doing too much. So, at least rest when you can."

"But--"

"Go."

Yotsuba's lip trembled... but then, after a moment, she swallowed, and closed her eyes. After a brief silence, Nino released her cheeks, and Yotsuba nodded, her ribbon moving limply along with her head -- tired, defeated cloth.

"...Ok," she whispered. Glancing over at me, there was a difficult to understand look in her eye. I hoped it wasn't resentment. I knew that I'd been guilty in the past of making the same bargain she had been making -- and she knew it.

Hopefully she doesn't hold this against me. I'm just...

"I'll come get you in an hour," I murmured. "Sound good?"

Yotsuba jerked her head quickly in assent, and then got up. With one final look at me, she walked over to the stairs, ascended them, and I lost sight of her -- the only further information I got was the sound of her door clicking shut a few seconds later.

The apartment was left in silence, Nino and I both staring up at the railing of the second floor.

A pause.

Then, Nino sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"This is getting ridiculous. Someone has to stop her; you're right, she's doing way too much."

I nodded, and Nino came around to the front of the couch to sit. Leaning with her arm on the back cushion, about a metre separating us, she clenched her jaw as she shook her head at me.

"So, a few nights ago," she said, "I got up at around two in the morning to go use the washroom... and as I was coming back upstairs, I saw that the light was still on in her room. I don't know what she's doing staying up so late, but I'm guessing it's studying. She's definitely not getting enough sleep."

"I knew it," I muttered, my fingers rising to rub my temples. "She's so desperate to pass these exams and succeed at the track meet, that I'm worried she's going to completely burn herself out."

"She is going to," Nino said pointedly. "So, if you don't want that to happen, you need to stop her. She might make it through the next few weeks intact... but if she keeps doing this in the long run, she's not gonna make it."

I frowned. "I agree, but why do I specifically need to be the one to get her to stop? Of course, I'm going to try; but you can clearly see the problem too. It's not like I'm the only one in her life."

"I've tried."

Nino lowered her head sideways to the back cushion, resting it on her arm. There was a complicated look on her face, an expression containing a multitude of emotions. Regret. Frustration. A touch of something else, something that I couldn't quite identify.

"I've been trying constantly to get her to slow down," Nino said, a note of bitterness in her voice as she stared down into the cushion, not looking at me. "I told her she was doing too much with the track team, and all this studying. It's obvious to all of us what it's doing to her... but she just won't listen to us."

Then, she glanced up at me, and shrugged. "But... I don't know. I think she'll listen to you instead. Maybe."

"What are you talking about?" I said drily. "She just listened to you, and not to me."

"Only because we tag-teamed her," she said, suddenly quiet. "She was about to give in anyways-- I could tell. Because you were the one asking her to stop. If it's just me, I... can't do anything about it on my own."

I furrowed my brow. This was... new. The look on Nino's face wasn't one I'd seen before. There was an introspective expression, as though she weren't quite seeing me at all; as though her eyes, trained on my face, were turned entirely inward. After a moment, perhaps she realized what she'd said, because she sat up and looked away from me. There was a moment of quiet, a sense of expectation.

Eventually, I was the one to break the silence.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. "That it's because I'm the one asking her. You're her sister -- she should listen to you too, right?""

Nino glanced back at me, and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? Listen, you're the one who set her on this path -- you're the one who made her do all this studying. What, do you think she's doing it because she just freakin' loves school?"

I shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "I didn't make her do anything. She was the one who wanted to study together. She's the one who set these goals in the first place. I just helped her try and reach them. It's not fair to blame me for her pushing herself too hard."

Nino sighed, and lowered her head into her palm; irritated, she waved her free hand dismissively at me.

"That's not the point I was trying to make, I-- ugh. Ok, look. You're, for all intents and purposes, her tutor--"

I bristled.

"Ok, fine, you're not her tutor, whatever. Who cares? The point is, when it comes to school stuff, she really respects you, even if what you're saying isn't what she wants to hear."

"...So?"

"So," Nino said emphatically, "we don't have that kind of relationship with her. I don't have that kind of relationship with her. I'm... I'm her sister, you know? We've always been the same. We've always been equal. We're all on the same level, I've always been her older sister... but that means I can't just tell her what to do. I'm not... I can't make her..."

She looked away from me again; but, in the moment before she turned, I could see a look of sheer frustration on her face. It was an expression I was unaccustomed to seeing on her -- I hadn't seen her with that look since I'd approached her in an abandoned classroom, trying to comfort her as she fled from Takeda's ham-handed care.

As Nino's lip trembled, I could feel my own drawing tight.

"Nino..."

She took a deep breath, and turned back to me. There was a glisten to her eyes, and I wondered for a moment if she was going to cry. The emotions on her face suddenly clicked into place as our eyes met; and I was struck by how much they resembled my own feelings.

They were identical.

She felt helpless.

"I hate this," she hissed. "I'm really worried about her, and what she's doing to herself... but I can't do anything to help her, and I have to leave things to you. Seriously, this sucks."

Well, that was uncalled for.

I sighed. Of course. Naturally, it wouldn't be a conversation with Nino without having barbs thrown at me seemingly at random.

"Well," I said drily, "despite how much you hate me, I'll do my best to live up to your expectations."

Nino froze.

A litany of emotions crossed her face -- a dozen feelings in tandem, none fully felt in their entirety, identifiable only by the whole which their parts constituted. Eventually, like colours of paint mixed together, they settled into a quietly hurt look, one which seemed to be subtly laced with regret. As I looked at her face, there was a creeping feeling that...

"I don't," Nino murmured.

A feeling that I'd fundamentally misunderstood something.

I blinked.

"Sorry?"

"I... I don't hate you," Nino muttered, looking away from me. "I just..."

Silently, I watched her. I didn't really know how to take what she was saying -- how to reconcile her words with my mental image of her; how to square the circle that was the enigma she'd long represented to me. She'd always been a puzzle -- the queen of mixed signals, hot and then cold, seemingly without an underlying cause. Yet, somehow, I felt as though the disparate pieces were on the verge of connecting.

"I just... can't bring myself to trust you," Nino finally said, pulling her stocking-clad feet up close to her on the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees to pull them in close to her chest. "You came in out of nowhere, and within like a week were all buddy-buddy with Yotsuba. Don't you think that's a bit suspicious? Then, she's suddenly all invested in studying, and she's driving herself to the edge with all of this and... I'm just really worried about her."

So... that's what it was.

My lips drawn, I looked down at the table in front of me, the half-finished remnants of Yotsuba's spread still littered across the surface, waiting for her return.

Yotsuba's lucky to have her.

"You really love her, don't you?" I said quietly.

"Uh, I mean... that's a bit..."

I raised my head, and looked over at her incredulously. She shifted uncomfortably under my gaze... and then eventually looked away.

"...Yes," Nino sighed. "Obviously, yes. She's my sister. Of course I love her -- and of course I'm worried about her. I'm still not sure if you're good for her, to be honest. Or whether we should trust you, or allow you into our home. You're not as bad as a certain other tutor, but... it's hard to trust someone whose influence is making Yotsuba behave like that."

I was silent; I didn't know what I could possibly say to that.

"Anyways--" Nino said, her voice raising slightly as she hid her embarrassment with volume, "you're the one who led Yotsuba into this situation. So... so, you get her to snap out of it!"

"I don't think your logic tracks," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. "But... I was going to try and do that anyways, without you telling me to do it. So..."

Nino shrugged-- but, there was a trace of a smile on her lips.

"Good."

Rising from her spot she stretched, and then began to make her way back over to the table where she'd left her phone. Then, hesitating, she paused at the end of the couch, and looked pointedly back at me. There was a look on her face as though she wanted to say something... but the words seemed to stick in her throat.

I met her eye, and whatever it was seemed to waver... and then become unstuck.

She took a deep breath.

"I'll... leave her in your hands, Uesugi. For now, anyways."

I blinked, and then nodded.

"Sure. ...Thanks."

Awkwardly, Nino nodded back, and resumed her walk towards the table.

"Also... I'm glad you don't hate me."

She paused again, and glanced back at me. The conflicted look seemed to come back across her face, as though there were more she wanted to say -- as though there were more that she was feeling in that swirling mixture that had adorned her face minutes earlier. Eventually though, she just shrugged.

"Yeah, well... whatever."

"Maybe we can be friends eventually."

She scowled. "Don't push your luck."

I laughed, to her apparent surprise. After a moment, she shook her head with a hint of amused exasperation, and returned to the table.

After a few minutes, during which the two of us had sat in silence, I grew restless. Nino's words about trust, and my influence on Yotsuba, were bouncing around in my head. Eventually, unable to sit still, I found myself slipping out onto the balcony, my coat wrapped around my shoulders, drawn close in the early December cold. The sun was high in the sky, and the panorama of Nagoya splayed out before me was one of a city in mid-day -- eternally far from the quiet dance of light and stars that had constituted my view on the nights I'd stood out in the darkness.

Leaning on the balcony, I breathed in the fresh winter air, and shivered despite the warm layers around me.

'...It's hard to trust someone whose influence is making Yotsuba behave like that.'

Mulling over Nino's words, I breathed in, closing my eyes.

Am I really doing what's best for Yotsuba?

A seed of doubt, ever-present in my stomach, barely suppressed in the wake of my encounter with Eba, began to sprout once more. I'd allowed things to get to where they were because I hadn't wanted to try and tell Yotsuba what to do. I'd wanted her to live her life how she chose -- without forcing my ideals onto her.

Yet, now, after allowing things to get this bad, I'd gone and done just that anyways.

And though it had only been a day, things still didn't seem to be improving.

In the end... am I just doing what's best for me? Just... forcing her to spend time with me instead of doing what she's...

Opening my eyes, I smacked myself in the cheeks, hands leaving a dull ache in my face in a pale imitation of Yotsuba's own technique for awakening from a reverie. Leaning back, I quietly shook my head.

No.

You're not wrong, Fuutarou. She's the one who laid out her goals. Helping her accomplish them isn't wrong. Helping her when she's being treated like a doormat isn't wrong.

And... getting her to rest isn't wrong.

I swallowed.

I just want what's best for her... but I also don't want to get in her way. I don't want to force her to do anything...

Guilt was swimming in the depths of my chest, like a swarm of sharks circling beneath the surface of the ocean, only detectable by shadows in the water, scarce noticeable from the surface; yet, nonetheless, the presence of which tinged the aura of everything else around it.

Closing my eyes, I groaned as a sudden realization hit me.

I'm still emotionally off-balance from the whole thing with Eba. That's what's causing this.

But...

There was an ugly feeling deep in my stomach, a coiling sensation that felt fundamentally different from the acidic feeling that had plagued me for weeks. That had recoiled at the sight of Yotsuba at Eba's side, that had demanded my action.

This was something new.

I wasn't totally sure what.

Subconsciously, my eyes were drawn back to the large glass window of the Nakano apartment -- and the view, partially obscured by the reflection of sunlight on the pane, of Yotsuba's door up on the second floor. Hidden away.

She was hopefully resting -- recuperating, in the brief time she had, for the final charge.

"You don't have time to be feeling sorry for yourself," I muttered, returning to the railing. Pulling in a deep breath, I clenched the steel bar, and closed my eyes. "You don't have time to be this pathetic."

Then, squaring my shoulders, I turned and re-entered the apartment.

I had a promise to keep.

It's time.

As I approached the stairs to ascend and get Yotsuba, Nino glanced over at me from the kitchen table. The complicated look was on her face again... and I could have sworn I could see the moment she decided to put whatever she was feeling aside. A smirk appeared on her face, and she leaned to the side with her cheek resting on her hand.

"Done moping?" she said haughtily. "Good. You have work to do, y'know."

I paused, halfway up the steps, and glanced down at her.

"Shouldn't you be studying too?"

Nino glanced away a little bit too quickly. "I'm fine. I don't need to do something like that."

"Is that so? So you'll definitely pass all five exams, right?"

She muttered something inaudible, which sounded suspiciously like the word "no".

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't quite hear you," I said, the corners of my lips curling.

"I said-- ugh, whatever! God, you're annoying. Go get Yotsuba already!"

Chuckling to myself, I climbed the stairs, leaving a fuming Nino behind. As I reached the landing, I could hear her muttering all sorts of profanities to herself -- but it didn't sound like there was really any edge to them. Glancing back down at her from over the railing, I could see that she was restlessly tapping the table with her painted fingernails, the epitome of anxiousness.

I wonder how much of her abrasiveness is a front. To protect herself.

To protect her sisters.

I didn't have an answer.

As I reached Yotsuba's door, I raised my hand... and then hesitated. There was part of me, a selfish part, that wanted to let her keep resting. To grant her some measure of respite, and give her a chance to recover. To breathe. To sleep.

But, I couldn't.

She would be really upset.

Shaking my head, I rapped my knuckles on Yotsuba's door.

Knock knock knock.

There was a rustling noise from inside, a faint sound barely pushing its way through the thick door. Quietly, I heard a groan, the sort of deep-seated subconscious emanation that betrays the depths of one's exhaustion. Biting my lip, I looked away, my chest hurting.

...I wish I didn't need to do this.

The door swung open a crack, and an extremely bedraggled Yotsuba peeked out. She looked as though a horde of wild elephants had trampled over her, and then thrown her willy-nilly about the room, her hair a living epitome of the word "bedhead".

"Uesugi-san," she said blearily, swaying on the spot. "Uh... hi. I... feel weird. That was..."

I frowned, tilting my head. "Did you pick a fight with your bed?"

Yotsuba blinked at me, repeatedly. Then, she turned to look at her bed, which was out of my view from behind the mostly closed door. After a moment, she turned back to look at me -- and a bit of the light, which had so often been absent from her face, began to crawl into her eyes, her face splitting into a cheeky grin.

Ah.

That feels good to see.

"Shi shi shi-- yes, yes I did! It was a duel for the ages!"

"Did you win?" I asked, trying and failing to hide my amused smile.

Yotsuba nodded, a faux-serious expression on her face. "Absolutely. Darn thing didn't stand a chance -- I beat its booty five ways to Sunday!"

"Good. Kick its ass."

We looked at each other for a moment-- and then we both laughed. As we broke, the infectious chuckling spreading between us as a gas expands to fill its container, I could feel a spark of warmth in my chest, a flame that spread like wildfire through my veins, radiating out from my heart.

The ugly feeling in my stomach, whatever it had been, let out a shriek in the face of Yotsuba's heat -- and disintegrated, turning into nothing but ash blown away on the wind.

Eventually, the laughter died down, and I frowned.

"Are you ready to keep going? Or... do you want to sleep a bit more?"

Yotsuba's faux-serious face morphed into a genuine one, the small tell-tale signs of her amusement melting away when faced with the reminder of the task that awaited her. After a long moment's pause, during which she looked back at her bed, she turned back to me, and silently nodded.

Forward, then. There's no more time to rest.

Not anymore.

Descending the stairs with Nino silently eyeing us up, we returned to the spots we'd cleared for ourselves at the coffee table that morning -- and threw ourselves back into our work. Social studies. Japanese literature. Math. As I read, I felt my eyes drawn back to Yotsuba; analyzing her, pondering her expressions, searching for more signs of tiredness. It was all I could do to stop myself from staring.

I'm still worried about her. An hour wasn't enough...

"Uesugi-san?"

Ideally, she'd get a lot of sleep tonight and tomorrow night, so that she's well rested for the exams -- but I somehow find the concept of her actually taking that time off difficult to believe.

"Uesugi-san!"

That said... maybe I can convince her. All I can really do is try, I supp--

"U-E-SU-GI-SA-N!"

I snapped out of my reverie to the sight of Yotsuba centimetres away from me. She took up the entirety of my vision; my everything was her face. Our eyes were locked together, her deep ocean blue temporarily holding mine in their embrace-- I could feel the warmth of her breath on my skin, could see the sudden tenderness in her look, in the light in her eyes.

The briefest of thoughts. The flash of a reflection in her eye as she moved. I was consumed.

Then, the moment broke, and I reared back.

"Eh?! Yotsuba, what's wrong?"

"Hmmm," she said, leaning away from me again. "Very suspicious -- but I guess it'll have to wait. Are you sure you're not the one who needs to go have a nap?"

I frowned-- there was something strangely infantilizing about the way she'd said that. Nevertheless, I shook my head.

"I'm fine -- just deep in thought. What can I help you with?"

"I bought a new reference book for math," Yotsuba said, frowning down at her textbook, "but I don't understand anything in here. It doesn't look like any of the stuff we've covered..."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I tilted my head slightly in thought. "That's a bit odd. Maybe it's building up to it from a different approach?"

"Hmm, maybe," Yotsuba said, frowning down at her textbook. "I just don't know what most of these things are. There are a lot of new terms here."

"I see..." I said slowly.

"Like... what the heck is a 'Virasoro Algebra'? Is it different from the algebra we've been doing in class? I was already having trouble with letters being in equations! Ugh, I... I feel so stupid..."

I frowned. "Alright, stop it. Give me that."

Yotsuba morosely handed over the book, and I gave the page she was on a quick glance over... and then froze in shock.

I didn't recognize any of the math on the page either.

What on earth...

Flipping back to the cover, and also looking at a few of the surrounding pages, it was very clearly a legitimate mathematics textbook. Yet... and yet...

"A Virasoro algebra is an algebra obeyed by generators of a two-dimensional conformal symmetry..." I read slowly. Staring at the page, I blinked slowly. It was something I hadn't experienced in a long time -- and yet also an emotion that had become achingly familiar in a completely different area of my life over the last month.

I had no idea what the hell any of this meant.

"Where the heck did you get this...?" I asked slowly, looking up from the book to stare at Yotsuba.

"Oh! Um... Dad went to Nagoya University for a conference about a week ago, and I asked him to pick me up an algebra reference book!" Yotsuba said. "This is my first time using it though."

Closing the book, I looked at the cover again.

Abstract Algebra: A Primer.

"Yotsuba," I said slowly, my frown slowly deepening.

"Y-Yes?"

"...I don't think this is an algebra textbook."

"What? But... but it says algebra on it! It--"

"It says abstract algebra," I said, shaking my head. "Not just algebra."

"...Isn't that the same thing?" she asked, almost seeming to shrink in on herself.

"I... don't know. I don't think so?"

Yotsuba seemed to get smaller by the minute.

"Oh... I... oh no. That textbook was really expensive..." she murmured, a note of guilt in her voice. "I... I feel bad, getting dad to waste his money like that..."

"Well," I shrugged, handing it back to her. "I guess you'll just need to study this... 'abstract algebra' thing in your spare time. After the exam."

"M-maybe," she said, an element of doubt creeping into her voice as she took it. "If... if I can find the time, maybe I--"

"That was a joke. Please don't start studying weird esoteric math on top of everything else."

"...O-oh. Right."

"Anyways," I said, waving my hand dismissively, "put it away. You have more pressing concerns than whatever the hell a... what was it called again? Whatever the hell a Virasoro algebra is."

Yotsuba buried her face in her hands, her face slowly turning redder and redder. I could empathize with her embarrassment -- but I wasn't sure what to say. Instead, I satisfied myself with reaching over and awkwardly patting her shoulder.

"Let's... let's just get back to work," Yotsuba eventually whispered.

"Sure," I said, the sympathy I was feeling spilling into my tone. "Let's stick to the usual reference books this time, ok?"

Head still in hands, she just groaned.

The subsequent hours ticked away, Yotsuba throwing herself further and further into her studies in part to assuage her embarrassment. Desperate to make up for the time she'd lost, and desperate to forget about her mistake.

Desperate to drive on, and on, and on.

As the sun began to set, its life shortened by the tilt of the Earth's axis and the hurtling of a ball of rock and water through the depths of space, the sky was cast into crimson red and brilliant orange, giving a faint amber lighting to Yotsuba's face as she peered down at the page below her, entirely enraptured in the task at hand as she was backlit by the giant glass windows..

She was consumed.

Strands of hair, gently falling over her face, illuminated by the sinking sun.

Beautiful.

I realized I was staring. Shaking my head, I looked back at my own work.

Idiot.

A rumble in the cage.

There was a clicking sound, and we both looked up, startled, to see the apartment door swing open. In quick succession, Ichika and Itsuki entered the room, taking off their coats and boots. They both looked exhausted; as Itsuki came over and flopped on the couch between Yotsuba and me, she let out a long groan. Ichika wandered over to sit on the other seat perpendicular to the couch, a tired yet satisfied look on her face.

"Hi," I said, looking down at the sprawled-out Itsuki.

She let out an indecipherable noise in response.

"I... take it that things didn't go well with Takeda?"

Vaguely affirmative sounds.

I looked over at Yotsuba, who shrugged. Itsuki eventually pulled herself up, and rubbed her eyes, evidencing how tired she was.

"There's just a lot, and no time, and Takeda-kun is... an enthusiastic teacher," she said delicately. "He's a lot better than he was, but there's still work to do there; and, I don't know... there's a long way to go."

"I see," I said quietly. "That's rough."

"I'm sorry your date went badly," Yotsuba said sombrely.

"W-W-- Date?!" Itsuki spluttered, jerking up straight and looking at Yotsuba. "No, I-- no! We were studying! It's not like that at-- ah, geez!"

Itsuki puffed up her cheeks in indignation -- and the outrage only grew worse as her sister began to snicker. Eventually, as Itsuki desperately attempted to convince her that she wasn't remotely interested in Takeda romantically, Yotsuba burst out into full peals of laughter.

"Well, I'm glad she's feeling better," I muttered to myself. Turning, I saw Ichika watching the proceedings with her usual quiet look of amusement. At some point, a steaming cup of tea had materialized in her hands.

"How was work?" I asked, ignoring the din behind me.

"Pretty good," she said, taking a sip. "Tiring, though. We had to take some re-shoo-- um, I mean... we had to do things over again due to a screw-up. So... that took a lot of my time. It's nice to have work though."

"I bet," I said quietly. "Are prospects improving on that front?"

"Mmm... we'll see," Ichika said, a thoughtful look on her face. "I'm hopeful, but... that thing in September was kind of my big shot, y'know?"

"I'm sure you'll get another one," I murmured. "You're working hard."

She smiled, a warmth crossing her face that so rarely allowed the mask to slip. "Thanks, Fuutarou-kun. I'll do my best."

"You'll do your best at what?" Nino asked from the kitchen, a suspicious look crossing her face. She had left the table, and was milling around the stove, making all the motions of preparing to make dinner. Ichika glanced over at her, and the honest look on her face was replaced with a lazy smile, the sort of expression that she so often wore -- the mask that hid her heart.

"Don't worry about it," she purred. "Work stuff."

"What do you do for work, anyways?" Nino frowned. "It seems--"

"Don't worry about it," Ichika repeated, cutting Nino off. Glancing back at me, she shrugged. "Anyways, that's how it is. I think I'm going to go take a quick nap in my room until dinner."

"Hey, wait-- at least tell me what you want for dinner!" Nino complained, reaching out a hand after her older sister as she ascended the stairs. Ichika gave her a wink, and I could practically see the steam blowing out of Nino's ears.

"That girl," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head. Then, looking over at me, she cocked an eyebrow. "Are you going to stay for dinner?"

"If that's ok with you," I nodded.

"Of course," she shrugged.

As she busied herself with working, my eyes followed her; and a frown slowly slipped over my face. It was strange -- despite Nino saying she didn't trust me, she seemed almost warmer somehow. As though my presence in her home was possibly more than just an inconvenience, even if it was only by the smallest of margins.

That, or it was all in my head.

"Uesugi-san?"

I glanced back over my shoulder to see Yotsuba looking at me -- and the unreadable expression that had so often crossed her face was there, for the briefest of moments. A tightening of her lips, a stiffening of her brow. Yet, in almost a blink of an eye, it was hidden away. She tilted her head, and then glanced down at the textbooks.

"Can we get back to studying?"

Maybe I imagined it?

"If you're done bullying Itsuki for going on a date, then sure," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Uesugi-kun, not you too!" Itsuki complained. "Give me a break here!"

"No," I smiled sweetly at her. Yotsuba started snickering again.

Eventually, we had dinner, Miku finally emerging from her room looking extremely satisfied, and Ichika being fetched by an extremely unsatisfied Nino. As we ate, my eyes lingered on Yotsuba's face, searching for signs of exhaustion. They were still there; her short rest hadn't been nearly enough to make up for weeks of overexertion. Yet... maybe with a bit more...

Yotsuba's eyes met mine as she caught me staring. Flustered, I looked away, my cheeks warming from within.

After dinner, we continued studying for a few more hours. Eventually though, we had to call it a night. As Yotsuba and I stood waiting at the bus stop far below the Nakano apartment, our breath visible in the cold winter air, I gently grasped her shoulder.

"Yotsuba, I have a mission for you tonight."

"Y-Yes?" she asked, her stuttering somewhere in the middle between nerves and chattering teeth. She'd forgotten her coat in the rush to follow me out as I'd hurried to catch the bus.

"Get enough sleep. The extra gain in studying at this point isn't worth the loss in cognitive ability. Do you understand?"

Yotsuba glanced away from me, a conflicted look on her face.

"I..."

"Yotsuba," I said sternly, a forceful note entering my voice.

She sighed, and pursed her lips.

"Well... maybe. But... I need to work hard, Uesugi-san. I can't... I can't just give up."

"You're not. You're resting," I said drily. "Those are two different words."

"Give up isn't a word," Yotsuba said, a cheeky smile slipping onto her face. "It's two."

I gently smacked the ribbon above her head, and she laughed.

"Smartass," I chuckled as the bus rounded the corner and approached. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Yep!" Yotsuba nodded.

Stepping onto the bus, I waved, and then I was carried away into the darkness, leaving Yotsuba to flee back inside out of the cold.

It was only when I got home that I realized she hadn't actually agreed to anything.

The next day was much the same -- I arrived at the Pentagon early in the morning, and we quickly got to work. Yotsuba had made strides over the last month, but I still wasn't entirely sure if it was going to be enough, even with all of her effort. The running club had taken a lot of her time and energy, resources that, by virtue of their absence, had put her at a disadvantage.

It also didn't help that she'd obviously ignored the mission I'd given her the previous night -- the signs of exhaustion were even worse in the morning light, not better.

Yet, as we studied together, I was encouraged by what I saw.

We stand a chance. A good chance, even.

As the clock on the wall approached noon, there was suddenly a loud banging sound, and we both looked up towards the second floor to see a sloppily-dressed Ichika hanging over the balcony, a wild look in her eye.

"F-Fuutarou-kun! I got-- um, I mean... can I talk to you for a minute? Privately?"

I frowned.

"Uh, sure. Should... should I come up?"

"Sure!" she said, swinging back to the safe side of the balcony. "I'll be in my room."

"Make sure to put on clothes!" Yotsuba yelled up, a worried look on her face. As I glanced over at her, I could see the inscrutable look on her face once again -- and it gave me pause.

I don't have time to think about this in detail.

Shaking my head, I rose, and climbed the stairs. As I walked into Ichika's room, I froze... and then sighed.

It was a disaster zone -- clothes strewn everywhere, her desk cluttered beyond belief. Her bed was less a place of rest, and more a den, a hole in which an animal could hide, ensconced. Various undergarments were scattered about the room in broad sight, something which didn't seem to particularly bother their owner, who was seated cross-legged on the bed with an uncharacteristic look of near-giddy excitement on her face.

"So... what is it?" I asked, training my eyes on her face; the only safe place to look in the room. In accordance with Yotsuba's yelled warning, she was, thankfully, wearing a pair of shorts. The ratty t-shirt draped over her shoulders wasn't doing much work covering her up, though.

"I got a text this morning from my agent," Ichika said, oblivious to my discomfort. "I got... I got another chance! It's for a movie-- there's an audition for a huge part in a couple weeks' time, and I made the shortlist after sending in my portfolio!"

"Oh," I blinked. Then, what she'd said hit me, and I could feel my face suddenly splitting into a grin. "Well, hey -- what'd I tell you? That's amazing, Ichika. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Ichika grinned, practically radiating with joy. "You were the only one I could tell, since you're the only one who knows about... well, you know. I just... I had to get it off my chest. I have another chance!"

"Good job," I murmured. "I'm proud of you."

Ichika suddenly stopped moving as her face reddened. Laughing awkwardly, she glanced away from me self-consciously.

"Uh... thanks, Fuutarou-kun. I appreciate it."

"Make sure you do your best," I said drily. "I want all the perks of being friends with a movie star."

Ichika let out a laugh, a different sound from the carefully constructed melody I subconsciously associated with her mask. Somehow, it felt more... real. Then, she paused, and tilted her head at me.

"I... hmm," Ichika said, scrunching up her face. "Well... I guess that settles that."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my frown deepening.

"Whether or not we're friends. We were undecided during the midterms, remember?"

I blinked at her in shock. "Ichika... that was months ago."

"Time is an illusion," she smiled lazily. "I already thought of you as a friend at the time anyways. I was just messing with you. I'm glad you feel the same way though, Fuutarou-kun."

As she said my name in a sing-songy tone at the end, I sighed, and lowered my head into my hand. "You... why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Hmm, I guess I'm getting predictable?" Ichika pouted. "Time to up my game."

"I'm going back downstairs," I scowled. "You can work on honing your teasing skills on someone else, at some other time."

Ichika's laughter followed me on the way to the door. As I stopped with my hand on the handle, I glanced back at her, and my scowl melted away to be replaced by a half-smile. Despite how much she teased me...

"I'm serious though. Congratulations. That's a big deal."

"Thanks," Ichika murmured, a small, genuine smile making its way onto her face. "I'm... really excited. Nervous. But, excited."

Nodding, I slipped out the door, and descended back down the stairs. Yotsuba eyed me up, a carefully neutral look on her face -- I could tell just by glancing at her that it was constructed. It was obvious, in every aspect of her look.

"So," she said casually, looking down at her textbook. "What was that about?"

"She just had some news she wanted to share with me," I said, imitating her casual pose, staring down at my own.

"I... I see."

There was a moment of silence between us, broken only by the quiet sound of the clock on the wall ticking.

Yotsuba glanced up, and looked over at me -- I could see her movement out of the corner of my eye. Training my focus on the words in front of me, the black ink simply wavered on the page, like water gently lapping at the shore; only going so far, doomed to eventually be drawn back. None of it was entering my mind. All of my attention was drawn to the half-seen sight of her eyes, trained on me.

Watching.

Inspecting.

A shiver went down my spine, and I subtly shook my head.

"That really was all it was," I said, not looking up from the textbook. "Nothing more."

"O-Oh!" Yotsuba suddenly stuttered -- and as I glanced over at her, I could see her cheeks suddenly beginning to redden at being caught. "Sorry, I... I wasn't trying to accuse you or anything! I was just..."

She trailed off, and then suddenly violently shook her head.

"Sorry, I was being dumb. Please forget about it, Uesugi-san! Let's get back to studying!"

"Sure..." I said uncertainly.

We both resumed studying -- silent, awkward. Every so often, I would catch Yotsuba stealing glances at me... and just as often, I would peek over at her, only to also meet her eye.

Slowly, easily, we settled back into routine, the tension fading into the background, nothing more than a static backdrop. A subliminal thing; after a time, I was hardly even aware of it. After that, after we slowly grew comfortable again, studying got easier, the words beginning to flow; eventually, hours had passed, consuming the day.

I was hopeful. More-so, even, than before the midterm.

"Alright, this is it. Final practice test before the final."

Reaching into my bag as the sun set, I pulled out a practice test I'd made for Yotsuba the previous night, and handed it to her. Looking down at it, she gulped, and squared her shoulders.

"I'll... I'll do my best!"

Looking at her gathering her will, I was struck by a sudden urge -- and I reached over to rest my hand on her shoulder.

"You've got this," I smiled. "You've been working your ass off for literally months at this point. I believe in you."

Yotsuba had turned to look at me as the hand came to rest on her shoulder -- and as I finished speaking, I could see her eyes suddenly brim with tears. Concerned, I pulled my hand back.

"Yotsuba--?!"

"Ah-- sorry," she said, half-laughing as she wiped her eyes, her cheeks reddening. "That just kind of caught me off-guard. I've... just been putting a lot of myself into all this, you know? So... hearing you say that... really kind of..."

After a moment's hesitation, I reached out again, and rested my hand back on her shoulder. Reaching up, she grabbed the top of my hand, and squeezed it gently for a moment.

"Thanks, Uesugi-san," she said softly. "I... I think I actually really needed to hear that."

At her touch, electricity ran up my arm -- and for that brief moment, all of my awareness was focused in on that one spot. That one spot where skin met skin, where I could feel the warm touch of her hand. With the brief pressure, I could feel my face heat up; but, I didn't want to withdraw; didn't want to move.

"Well," I said, glancing away, my free hand subconsciously rising to fiddle with my bangs. "It's the truth... so..."

As she let go of me, turning back down to look at the practice test I'd made for her, I hesitantly pulled back -- and as pencil came down onto paper, I was momentarily lost in thought as I stared at my hand.

A purring from within the cage.

Shivering, I returned to my own studying.

Eventually, with a groan, Yotsuba finished -- and, flopping back onto the couch, she seemed to almost melt into the fabric.

"Bleeeeh... done."

"Good job," I smiled, grabbing the test. "Now... to see how you did."

Pulling a red pen out of my bag, I began marking the practice test. At first, I'd been concerned -- reading over the first few questions, she'd started off with a streak of wrong answers. However, as I progressed, the situation changed; the first section had been math, and Yotsuba had simply been a bit slow to get going. By the end of the test, I was blinking in surprise.

"Um... Uesugi-san?" Yotsuba asked from her place where she'd become one with the couch. "How... how'd I do?"

"Uh... I'm trying to figure out how to say this..."

Yotsuba blanched.

"It's... it's that bad?" she asked, a note of despair entering her voice.

"Ah-- no, sorry. It's more... one of two possibilities. Either I badly miscalibrated the practice exam... or you've improved a lot. More than I thought."

Yotsuba's eyes, furrowed from her initial reaction, suddenly grew as wide as saucers; as I handed her the test, and she saw the "65%" circled on the front, her jaw dropped.

"I... what?!"

"It's a product of your hard work," I said quietly. "Well done."

Yotsuba slowly looked up, her eyes still wide. Wordlessly, she stared at me; then, after a long moment, she quietly looked back down at the test.

Silently, we sat, unmoving.

Then, shaking her head, she put the stack of papers down.

"I... need to not get carried away," she breathed. "The real thing starts tomorrow... so, I can't get carried away with this... right?"

"Right," I said.

There was another long moment of silence.

Then, Yotsuba let out a squeal of excitement, and turned to grab my arm. Shaking it, I could almost see the excited light in her eyes.

"But... but... Uesugi-san, I-- I did it! I got over 50%! I did it!"

"You did," I finally smiled. "You should be proud of yourself."

As Yotsuba bounced in her seat, I could feel a smile crossing my face. After everything that we'd been through, after the months of studying... seeing an objective measure of how far we'd come was an incredible feeling. It was like hiking up a mountain, and then turning around and seeing how far you'd climbed. A completely incomparable feeling.

That said...

"You know, I can tell you an easy way to get a free bonus one-percent boost on your score for the real test, though," I said, a teasing tone slipping into my voice.

"Hmm?" Yotsuba asked, still elated.

"Make sure to get a good, solid sleep tonight. No more studying at two in the morning, ok? You're hitting diminishing returns in terms of cramming."

Yotsuba opened her mouth... and then closed it again.

Then, she pouted.

"Uesugi-saaaaaaaaan, how did you know I was studying at two in the morning?!" Yotsuba whined.

"I'm not stupid," I said drily, suppressing the laugh that was building up in my chest. "You're not exactly subtle."

Also, a little birdie told me...

After a long moment of pouting at me, Yotsuba finally cracked, and laughed. Once it died down, she nodded. "...Fine. I'll do my best."

"That's all I can ask of you," I said, smiling at her.

Glancing out the window at the pitch-black night outside, I sighed, and rose to my feet.

"Anyways, I should probably head home," I said, stretching; I'd been stuck in that position for hours at that point. Yotsuba glanced outside as well, and then at the clock on the wall. Then, with a face that could only be described as glum, she nodded.

"I... guess so..."

As I walked over to the door to grab my coat, Yotsuba seemed conflicted about something. As I finished putting it on, she hesitated with her hand half-extended... and as I slipped on my shoes, she had a look on her face that seemed almost as though she were choking something down. As though there were some thought that had caught hold of her, and she was wrestling it into submission to stop it coming out of her mouth.

A battle with which I had far too much experience.

"Well, Yotsuba, I--"

"Uesugi-san, you should spend the night," Yotsuba said at the same time as me, losing her battle. "That way we can keep studying as late as we want!"

I froze, my hand halfway towards the door handle. My mind was suddenly blank -- it was as though, mid-operation, it had been rebooted by force. Eventually, after a long moment, I turned back towards her; and I could feel my face igniting with red heat.

"Um-- sorry, come again?"

Yotsuba's face matched mine, beet-red and growing increasingly crimson by the second. Yet, there was a look of quiet determination there -- which was reflected as she shook her head through her embarrassment.

"You should stay," she repeated, quieter this time. "For... for studying."

I just stared blankly at her.

My entire mind was concentrated on something else entirely.

Namely, containing the beast that had violently thrown itself at the bars of the cage in my chest. Iron shrieking, steel twisting, it was held together by only thin wiry strands of metal at that point. It was taking everything I had to keep it sealed. To stop the beast escaping.

To stop my impulses from taking me into unknown territory.

Precarious. Painful. I had been on the verge of giving in.

But, barely, I managed to fight the beast within back into the depths of the shadows.

For now...

"I really appreciate the offer," I finally said softly. "But... I really want to get a good night's sleep before the exam... and that's not going to happen if I sleep here."

"But I can sleep in Miku's room and then you could have--"

I shook my head. "I'm going to pass this time, Yotsuba. I'm sorry."

"Oh..."

Yotsuba seemed to visibly deflate in front of me... and a pang of guilt rang through my heart. Leaning forward, I looked around the room -- none of the other sisters seemed to be present, barring the possibility of someone secretly peeking from the second floor. Nevertheless, I kept my voice low. I didn't need to give any of them more ammo.

"That said," I murmured in her ear, "I... wouldn't say no in the future. So... um... please invite me again."

Yotsuba's face, if possible, seemed to grow even redder; as I pulled back, she just let out a quiet squeak, before nodding silently. I could feel my own face burning in turn... and so, with a hasty farewell, I exited the apartment, fleeing down to street level on my own.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I stepped out the front door, the beast's resentful growls echoing throughout. Desperately, I tried not to think about Yotsuba's proposal, even if I knew she hadn't meant anything untoward by it.

...Probably.

That said...

What on earth was she thinking?

As I stood at the bus stop, my coat wrapped tight around me, I looked up at the towering apartment building above me -- at the distant balcony, far above. It was just my imagination seeking patterns in the dark of the night, but I thought I saw a ribboned figure looking down on me from above; watching.

Shaking my head, I got on the bus as it pulled up.

As the bus gently shook driving down the street, I pulled out my phone and shot off an e-mail to Itsuki, recruiting her to make sure that Yotsuba actually slept. She eventually responded in the affirmative, the formality with which she messaged brought a rueful smile to my face; even virtually, she couldn't relax.

Sliding the phone back into my pocket, I closed my eyes, and sighed.

One more day...

Turning to press my face against the cold glass, I opened my eyes and stared out into the darkness of the night... and my mind wandered back to the day before, leaning against the railing on the balcony as Yotsuba slept. Back to when I'd realized how the encounter with Eba had quietly shaken me.

But... why?

Running over the events of the confrontation in my mind, I could feel the frown on my face growing as I watched the lights flashing by. There was a common thread there -- some underlying source of discomfort, of unhappiness.

Why am I so unsettled, even now?

Pictures flashed in my mind; Yotsuba standing a half-step behind her captain. Yotsuba walking with a duffel bag flung over her shoulder, exhausted. Burned out.

Broken.

Yotsuba leaving our study session weeks before, unannounced, to go to track solely on Eba's whim.

A long pause, pressed against the cool pane of glass... and then a slow, soft release of air, like the gentle collapse of a balloon with a small leak; deflated, losing volume by the second, flattening.

It wasn't because of Eba.

"I wanted her to be the one to decide," I whispered to myself aloud. "I wanted her to choose me on her own. By herself."

Closing my eyes, I was silent for a moment. Then, leaning back in the seat, I let out a long sigh.

"Childish."

It was.

Yet, it didn't change the truth of how I felt.

She still chose me in the end. So... I shouldn't feel like this.

It's wrong.

Stepping off the bus a few minutes later, I began the short walk back to our apartment, trying to fight back the irritation I was feeling with myself. Climbing up the stairs, I was greeted upon opening the door by an enthusiastic Raiha, and my only slightly more demure father. We had a late dinner, made by my sister, and then I got ready for bed.

As darkness settled into the room, laying in the comforting embrace of my futon, I stared up at the ceiling... and slowly, my irritation melted away as thoughts of the next day began to creep back in. Despite there being no outside stimulus, I could feel my heart beginning to race.

Fear. Nerves.

A mental image of Yotsuba's wan face, marred by exhaustion.

I'm still worried about her.

I could still feel the phantom sensation of where she'd touched my hand; where she'd gripped it, squeezing my skin as a show of connection. There was a warmth there, a heat that stretched up my arm; a feeling locked in combat with the icy claws of the anxiety that was in turn creeping its way up my spine, laughing quietly as it slithered its way around my heart. The two fought... and drew to a stalemate.

Rolling over onto my side, I stared at the small window in the apartment wall, and the occasional flashing lights of the cars driving by outside. Staring into the sporadically shattered darkness, I clenched my jaw.

The finals began tomorrow. The track meet was in a matter of weeks. No matter how worried I may have been...

There was absolutely nothing I could do. Everything was completely out of my hands.

In fact... it had never truly been in my hands to begin with.

Yotsuba's choices were Yotsuba's alone to make.

I couldn't make them for her. I couldn't live her life for her. All I could do was watch, advise, and do my best to be there for her. To support her.

To care for her.

One day more.

--------------------------

A/N: This is the longest I've gone without posting a chapter for this fic... possibly since I started writing it. A mixture of work, writer's block (in terms of just getting words on the page) and doing edits for my other fic, "A Sonata of Solitude", combined into an unholy fusion of delay. I'm sorry for the long absence; I'm really going to try to not make a habit of it! That said, we're officially at the halfway point of this arc. What lies in store in the second half? I suppose you'll just have to wait and see!