Here we are, the start of the Field Trip arc. Let's see just what everyone's up to on the morning of the first day shall we?

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A cool morning like any other, except today was the day of the Field Trip.

Making sure to get up early, you double and triple checked that you had packed everything: clothes, toothbrush, earbuds, and you even packed your Nintendo 3DS for the fun of it because why not?

The Group Chat had been absolutely terrorised by Yotsuba the night before, who was sprouting her excitement to us all in any way she could. It was heart-warming to see how much she was looking forward to this, but you had to admit you had actually warmed up to this trip. It could be a lot of fun after all so you thought you might as well not waste it and sulk throughout the entire thing.

After turning the key swiftly into the front door and making sure it was locked, you head out towards school where everyone was to meet up and board their respective buses.

Except.....

You were the only one of the entire group that was actually there....

When you arrived, Fuutaro was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba or Itsuki. "How the hell can there be 6 other people and none of them show up, what the hell is going on?" You think to yourself.

You sent a text into the group chat but it was to no avail, as no one replied or had even read it even after 5 minutes. Now everyone was boarding their respective buses.

"Class 2-5! Please board this bus immediately!" A teacher shouted, your entire class shuffled onto the bus and you desperately tried to keep a hold of your phone. In the crowd you somehow boarded the bus near the beginning of the line so you sat near the back. Not on the row of 5 seats at the very very back but a few rows in front.

Luckily though, no one sat next to you, people wanted to sit with their friends and this just seemed to be the way it turned out. You sigh to yourself and anxiously check your phone again hoping to see some change to the message status. There was none.

The bus trip there with Nino sitting next to you was the plan from the start, you wanted to spend a lot of private time with her before the trip but now that was gone. Solemnly, you pull out something from your pocket;

An Origami Butterfly.

2 weeks ago you had no clue how to even fathom Origami, but in truth you wanted to make something small for Nino as a sort of personal gift and you were planning to give it to her on the bus, not the most romantic place in the world but, it would have been special in it's own weird way.

You turn the Origami Butterfly around and look at it from a few angles before a frown appears on your face. Putting it back in your pocket to prevent yourself from getting any more depressed, you glance out the window and see a crowd of teachers gathered by the entrance of your bus. You pay it no attention and put your earbuds in and scroll through a few playlists.

You decide to go to the Videogame OST playlist with over 400 songs in it. After scrolling for a few seconds, you settle on the Credits theme from Super Mario 64, huge nostalgic classic for you. Letting the song hit you in the feels, you lean back in the seat and close your eyes, thoughts of where the entire group was were racing through your mind but you managed to get lost in the music the music, until....

"Oh, what do we have here? "

Upon hearing the voice, you open your eyes and look next to you where the sound came from. As if the day couldn't already get worse, currently sitting beside you was none other than Kaito.

"Why the hell are you here?" You scowled.

"I got kicked off of my bus so they moved me into this one for the journey instead."

"Woooooow, nice going shithead" you sneer sarcastically.

"Shithead huh?" He leans back in his seat slowly. "Hey, I didn't see any of those sisters around, they finally give up on you and ditch you? Can't blame 'em, having to be around a punk like you all day must be torture for them" His tone sounding very menacing, but you were used to his intimidation tactics by now.

"You never shut up do you?" you reply.

"And what the fuck are you gonna do about it Y/N?" Kaito growled, as he leaned closer to you, his fist was clenched behind him which you noticed. How is this guy already angry?, He's been sitting here for 20 seconds...

You let out a sigh. This looked like it was going to be a long journey....

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Third Person Perspective

Meanwhile....

The day before the Field Trip had been interrupted for a certain boy, with a certain sick little sister. Fuutaro had been called home as Raiha had become sick for some unknown reason, he health was never the best and with how much Fuutaro prioritised her, he sprinted back home to be by her side. This unfortunately meant he would miss the bus for the Field Trip but it was a sacrifice he had to make for Raiha's health.

Morning came and Fuutaro stayed by his sisters side. The bus was soon about to leave and there was nothing he could do about it. His father had just burst through the door however.

"Raiha are you still alive!?" Isanari screamed as he entered the house.

"Pops, she's still sleeping so tone it down a bit"

"My bad... Hey, doesn't your bus leave soon? If you leave now you could still make it!"

"It's already gone, besides it only means I get an extra 3 days of solo-studying" Fuutaro says very melancholic.

"You forget something" Isanari tapped Fuutaro on the head with his Field Trip planner, that was unfortunately pretty useless now. "This thing's a once in a lifetime shot, if you leave now you might still make it"

"It's no big deal, the bus will be long gone by then"

As if on cue, the young sister of the Uesugi family sprang up into action.

"Ah! I'm Hungry!" Both of the guys looked at Raiha in disbelief as to how she was even moving around like this.

"Wait, Big Bro, why are you still here!? You're supposed to be on that Field Trip!" Raiha exclaimed, attempting to push her brother out of the door. Somehow she was so full of energy after being bedridden the day prior.

"Raiha! Like I said, the buses-"

"-Have Departed."

Standing in the doorway was none other than Itsuki herself.

"Itsuki? Why the hell are you-"

"Excuse me, but I'm borrowing Uesugi" She states as she drags him out of his own house.

Fuutaro's mind was racing, trying to figure out what was going on.

"But.. You, The bus!.."

"I saw it off earlier"

"But why did you come to my house!?"

"I'm the only one who knows where you live, so I'm the only one that could bring everyone here"

Standing outside were the other 4 Quintuplets, and the car that Fuutaro had often seen them being driven to school in.

"Fuutaro.."

"You're late!"

"Uesugi! Over Here!"

"What the hell was he even doing..."

There was a brief sparkle in Fuutaro's eyes, a warm smile appeared on his face as he scratched the back of his head. Deep down, he was happy he was able to still attend the field trip, for once he felt gratitude for being stuck with these 5 idiots.

After Miku and Ichika had a short private conversation, everyone began to pile into the car. For Fuutaro is was a completely otherworldly experience as he'd never been in such a fancy car before.

"Hey, How's the car feel?" Yotsuba asked from the row in front of him.

"It's great, it's really.... spongy?" Fuutaro cocked his head to the side.

Yotsuba let out a cute giggle and turned back around, seemingly whispering something to herself.

Itsuki and Fuutaro sat in the back row. Yotsuba, Nino and Ichika sat in the middle row, and Miku sat in the passenger seat. Ebata was the one driving them there, he often drove the Quintuplets and today was no exception, he happened to not be busy and their father seemingly gave him the green light to take them. It was Fuutaro's first time meeting him, when he was late to school with them before it was another man driving them, so naturally he was a bit nervous but got through it. Soon after, they departed to catch up with everyone else.

However...

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There was a terrible snowstorm partway into the journey. The roads were blocked by waves of traffic. They hadn't moved for about 40 minutes at this point, and who knew how far ahead the coaches were.

"Hey, by the way" Fuutaro started the conversation again. "Where's Y/N?"

The girls all looked shocked, like they had completely forgotten about Y/N.

"Oh..... shoot" Yotsuba frowned.

"Wait, we left him all alone on the coaches?!" Nino barked

"Well it's not like he's hiding in the trunk, so of course he's on the coaches" Miku said bluntly. It seemed as if Y/N's sarcasm was rubbing off on her and it earned her a scowl from Nino.

"We can't even text him because of all the bad weather, did anyone tell him we were doing this?" Itsuki asked

The rest of the girls and Fuutaro all guiltily shook their heads.

"That guy sure is a mystery, don't you guys think?" Ichika said, putting her hands behind her head. "He's a sarcastic, go with the flow kind of guy, it makes me wonder what kind of life he's lived" She pondered

"Ichika? Where's this coming from?" Nino questioned

"Simple Curiosity"

"Sure, Y/N is a mystery but I don't believe he has any bad intentions. " Itsuki claimed. After patching things up with Y/N, they promised to hang out more and they were getting along as well as they used to, which made Itsuki happy deep down, no that she would ever admit it anyway.

"Yeah, me neither" Miku added.

"Hey, Uesugi! You've known Y/N for a while right? Was he always like he is now?" Nino asked demandingly.

"Nino... I'm sure it's not Fuutaro's place to speak about Y/N's past..." Miku defended.

"Nah, it's fine" Fuutaro shook his head. "He wouldn't care, to him his past is just that, the past. He doesn't care if people know it or not and I'm sure he wouldn't hate me for telling you about some of it, because I imagine he's rarely mentioned anything to you guys outside of his late mother"

Everyone was blown back for a second with how Fuutaro presented that.

"In that case, I have to admit I'm a bit curious..." Yotsuba said.

"Me too" The others chimed in.

They all expectantly looked at Fuutaro.

"Well, where to begin....

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"Y/N's never really given me dates as to when things happened, so if the timeline doesn't match up perfectly, forgive me" He began.

"As far as I know, Y/N's an only child. As a kid he was a pretty good altogether, he lived with his mother and father and they lived happily. Until he was around 9 and they split up, he's told me it was just natural differences and they didn't hate each other or anything but Y/N never understood it"

"For a while after, his behaviour shifted, and he became much more abrasive, and aggressive. Never towards his mother of course, but towards other kids at school, some teachers and other people. Eventually his mother met another man and they married, but sometime before the marriage, Y/N's mother had gotten pretty ill. He's told me to this day he has no clue as to what made her ill or even what the illness was"

"I guess it's also good to mention, his birth parents were pretty well off in terms of money, so when they split they managed to keep it somewhat even between them"

"Y/N's stepfather was a nice man initially but once Y/N's mother married him, his true colours showed. He was a horrible human being, assaulting him and his mother sometimes. His mother he would go after mentally, on the occasion striking her, but Y/N was a mix of mental and physical".

Fuutaro let out at deep breath, as did the others, it was insane to think that Y/N went through all of this as a kid.

"Well, anyway." He continued "From what I know, Y/N hates his stepfather to his core, and he wanted to run away from home as soon as possible but he didn't want to leave his mother behind alone with him so he toughed it out. In school he got into more fights, more trouble and just became a worse student but he was still as smart as ever which a lot of teachers were sad about."

"Sometime down the line, maybe when he was about 14. His mother passed, and he ran away from home a few days later and moved here. At first he stayed with his dad, but eventually was able to live here and I met him sometime in school, it's been about 3-4 years now." Fuutaro smiled to himself without realising it.

"Are you glad you met him?" Ichika asked.

"Sure, he's an alright guy, we have a lot of disagreements about things, but he's always stayed loyal with me, even when it's in his best interest not to. He's the type of guy to act on his own accord"

"Actually that reminds me, his mother apparently told him to find and marry 'The One For Him' one day and to this day, he still debates over what she meant by that, but in all honesty he's never gone out with a girl as far as I'm aware." He added.

Nino flinched in her seat and a blush started to appear on her face but she managed to hide it. She twirled her hair to deal with this sudden anxiety burst.

Miku happened to notice as she sat in the front seat and smiled to herself.

"So that's what Y/N's like..." Itsuki trailed off.

"Yeah, It's not the full picture as he intentionally keeps some stuff personal, but maybe one day he'll share it with someone"

"Fuutaro, do you know anything about his father?" Miku asked. Everyone turned to her out of curiosity. "H-He mentioned his father briefly when he showed me how to dance but cut the subject as soon as I asked about him"

"Well, I've never met his dad, but he doesn't hate him, only his stepfather. I think every few months his dad visits him actually, but I don't know much else besides that, sorry"

"I-It's fine I was just being nosy" Miku replied with a blush.

"Alright, last one!" Ichika exclaimed, "What about his First Year, that was pretty recent right? and we only met you both a few months ago."

"As I said, he always stayed loyal with me, even when he could have made friends with the popular kids, or have gotten a girlfriend at some point but he decided to stick by me. He's had a few fights but his main 'enemy', if you were to call it that, would be a guy named Kaito."

"Kaito...!?" Nino coughed.

"What is it sis?" Itsuki asked.

"Uesugi. Is he that tall, blonde jock guy?"

"Yeah that's him"

"I knew it, that guy's a weirdo, an even bigger weirdo than you are" Nino said crossing her arms.

"T-Thanks..?"

"Nino how do you know him?" Ichika asked.

"A while ago I bumped into him in a corridor and he started to creepily flirt with me, but I had no interest and kept walking. A few times since then I've ran into him and he's always tried to get my number or ask me on a date, he's a total creep!"

"Ooooo, sounds like our Y/N has some competition!" Smirked Ichika.

"I-Ichika!" Nino cried.

"Anyway" Fuutaro continued. "Kaito and Y/N have always had a problem with each other, even up until now. They just plain hate each others guts, there's been so many times that they've been close to fighting but surprisingly, neither of them have ever started a physical fight with the other, while both are known for having fought others in the school before so everyone's waiting on the day it finally happens"

"Has he ever done anything to you?" Yotsuba asked, with concern breaking through her voice.

"No, as far as I know, he has no problem with me, I've spoken with him briefly but he doesn't do anything to me it's only Y/N who he torments, and he seems to get a kick out of it" Fuutaro lowers his voice and leans forward. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if something happened on this trip, where they're forced to be together outside of school grounds".

Everyone fell silent as they all thought about Y/N.

"I hope he's doing okay on his own..." Nino trailed off silently as she gazed out of the window. Admittedly, she wanted to ride the bus with Y/N but Itsuki insisted she came with them instead. Her sisters were her priority after all so she bit the bullet and left Y/N to go and pick up Fuutaro instead. After being lost in thought for a few seconds, she realised that they were moving again.

"Hey guys, the traffic's finally moving!" Nino pointed out.

And so it was, the traffic was finally letting up and the group managed to make it to a nearby Inn.

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They all entered and Ebata followed them to make sure they could get the needed space. There was only one room available so the 6 of them all rushed off towards the room to set themselves up.

Ebata was overviewing everything over at the reception desk before he had to leave to some urgent work he had been called for. As he turned to leave, something, or more specifically someone caught his eye.

It was only for a second but a familiar figure moved past his line of sight and went into another room. For some reason, Ebata had the gut feeling it was someone he knew and it made him smile on instinct.

He decided to just let it go and proceeded to make his way out of the inn and drive to his next destination with a warm, nostalgic feelings in his heart for reasons he didn't even understand.

The snow and the traffic had seemed to clear and new adventures were about to begin, as the wheels of fate began to spin....

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Slightly Shorter Chapter this time, for how I want things to play out, this was the best way I could do it, but it's releasing faster than the chapters have been recently so that's a bonus I guess. Also now I have a point of reference for Y/N, cus I made that small backstory in chapter 3, the night I started writing and didn't have any plans so now I know where I'm taking this story.

Also I changed the cover! I've been wanting to change it for a while because in all honesty I have no clue who drew the original image so I didn't credit them, but now with a fresh image I know where I got it from and I edited the title on myself which took way longer than it should have lmao. So let me know if you like it.

Anyway, December begins I hope everyone's doing well. Thanks for your continued support! See you in chapter 17! I won't make you wait too long ;) Lots more Nino next chapter, I think you guys will like it :)