บท 102: Confrontation on the Stairs

　　On the empty staircase, Nino pulled Shinichi against the wall with a cold expression, then slammed him against the wall aggressively.

　　This is Kabedon's posture.

　　But Shinichi dodged before his posture was formed, broke away from Nino's hand, stood aside and scowled at him.

　　"If you want to talk, just say it, do you really like intimate contact with men?

　　"Also, don't believe the messy plots in manga, short girls and boys will not only hurt their hands, but also not feel pressured at all, they will only become like spoiled children."

　　"I'm not interested in hearing your boring knowledge of popular science now." Nino didn't feel embarrassed, crossed her arms over her chest and said to the point, "Do you want Itsuki to join the committee?"

　　Shinichi was a little confused: "Right, you don't accept it?"

　　"Can't you say it?" Nino was direct with slightly mocking words, "Do you still want to take the five of us under your command?"

　　Shinichi also folded his arms, his expression was normal, looked at her without hesitation, and relied on the difference in height.

　　"So what? If it's you guys, you don't need to relate to each other, and it's easy to communicate and fit in, and you won't have any trust issues. In objective considerations, there is no more perfect small team than this—"

　　"Do you have any misunderstandings about quintuplets?" Interrupting Shinichi, Nino rustled in a low voice, "We are only five sisters, we cannot telepathy or share our senses, and even tacit understanding is gradually decreasing, the only thing we have in common is poor grades… Huh."

　　Nino changed the subject and went straight to the end.

　　"It doesn't matter whether you are objective or subjective, even if I want to hold activities with you until I'm exhausted, I don't want to drag them down. Did you hear me clearly?"

　　"Or do you want me to promise that we will find everyone before school today? That's fine, it can always be done in some way."

　　Nino's words were firm, leaving no room for compromise.

　　Shinichi stood still and Nino looked at him quietly, the commotion outside the stairs seemed to be getting further away.

Shinichi suddenly let out a low breath, slowly leaning against the slightly cold wall.

　　"Can I hear your reasons? I think you will agree. After all, you can work hard for forest school with your sister, and you can also get behavior grades. Even if your academic performance is not good, you can graduate safely. Why are you so resistant?"

　　With hesitation on her face, Nino finally gave up, her head drooping slightly, and the black and purple hairband stuck to she head as if she had lost her spirit.

　　"...You must not understand."

　　The aura that was originally like a volcanic eruption gradually cooled down, and the thin lips covered with lip balm revealed a somewhat lonely laugh.

　　"Things have gotten weird since we had tutors."

　　"Originally, everyone hated studying, and they were unanimously against letting that person teach us, thinking that our family of five didn't need to intervene at all."

　　"Never mind a boy of the same age, moreover he's not handsome at all."

　　"Now, are test scores that important? Is there anything more important than the integrity of the five of us? How wonderful it would be if the house that mother left remained stable like this. There's no need for anyone to step in, and there's no need for anything to change. Obviously I think so, definitely I think so…"

　　Nino's tone fluctuated.

　　"But before I knew it, it was the first Yotsuba, then Miku who didn't know when she became fond of studying, then Itsuki who hated him like I did in the beginning, and finally even Ichika accepted his teachings half-heartedly..."

　　"In the end, I'm the only one who thinks like this…" Nino clenched her fists tightly, "It's all because of that guy! It's all about Uesugi Fuutarou!"

　　"He was the one who changed my family at will, he was the one who broke our family together without consent! He was the one who got me thrown by them at some point, guarding the last part of the house by himself..."

　　Her voice went from strong to weak, and just as Nino took a deep breath to keep her emotions steady, Shinichi suddenly spoke.

　　"In that case, wouldn't it be better to hold joint activities in the executive committee? You can continue to walk side by side with your sisters, and this integrity can also be carried on at school."

　　Nino raised her head, her cold eyes looking at Shinichi.

　　"In that case, there will be one more person I hate?"

Shinichi understands.

　　Even if the quintuplets transferred to another school, even if they suffered from low grades, as long as the five of them worked together, everything would be fine.

　　But Fuutarou, the family's tutor, interferes and rearranges the original order of the five people. In the end, everyone came forward, only Nino remained in place, and she was the only one who remained in the past.

　　Nino signs up for the Forest School Committee to catch up with everyone else, it's also to prove that even if she doesn't depend on Fuutarou, she can keep up with everyone.

　　If you want to change, five people can change together, no one else needs to participate.

　　If they could find the equipment in the new place, of course Nino would really welcome them, even dragging her sister here to have activities together.

　　But the fact is that without Fuutarou, there is still Shinichi.

　　He simply took Fuutarou's place as the new barrier to completing the quintuplets, and things stayed the same, never changing.

　　Wherever they went, someone would always try to disrupt the stable life of the five of them.

　　Then what about good grades? So what if the event goes well? So what if Nino could?

　　What she was after was a complete five, not a prominent six.

　　Letting another sister join the forest committee is just repeating the scene at home, and Nino doesn't want to see this happen at all.

　　"What's more, aren't you hurting them by pulling them?"

　　Nino spoke calmly.

　　"Ichika does things casually, Miku can't even cook, Yotsuba is a sports idiot, Itsuki can only eat and study. If you ask them to organize activities, they will likely all be screwed, and the effort will be wasted… Will you suffer the consequences?"

　　"It doesn't matter if it's just me. After all, I have plenty of time, and I don't care if I get scolded if I fail... But those kids are very serious people..."

　　"Enough talk. If you really can't find anyone in the end, I'll try my best to help you run the forest school the best I can, no matter what you want me to do."

　　"But if you do invite them in, I will try my best to dissuade you, just like that annoying tutor."

　 Nino turned her head and showed a sweet smile that was both brilliant and very hypocritical.

　　"Then let's go back! Don't tell them about this~"

　　She ignored Shinichi's reaction and walked straight to the corridor's entrance.

　　"Nakano Nino."

　　Shinichi suddenly stopped her.

　　Nino stopped and said impatiently.

　　"Any other?"

　　Shinichi adjusted his stance, a haughty expression appeared in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved up in mockery.

　　—Be the bad guy.

　　He said so to himself.

　　——The reason was, to make the forest school run splendidly.

　　Not only that, he also wanted to see what kind of result the executive team composed of quintuplet sisters would be able to come up with in the end.

　　—Be not yourself.

Shinichi convinced himself and spoke, letting a tone of indifference and contempt echo down the stairs.

　　"Who do you think you are?"