"Huh? Ichika! What happened to your hair?" Nino, Miku, and Itsuki all gather around the entrance of their luxury highrise apartment, the eldest sister just returning home after going to a salon. Ichika's hair was cut short, yet it was still the same shade of crimson that the others had.

"This? It was getting in the way during club, so I cut it." Ichika laughed off the bit of embarrassment she felt under the gaze of her three sisters.

"Wow, it suits you. It's trendy." They started complimenting her choice, Nino and Itsuki walking over to touch it.

"Maybe I'll cut mine short too..." Miku said, pulling her headphones up to listen to something. "What about you, Nino?" With a half-turn, she turned her attention to the second sister, who had recently been putting the extra effort to keep up with the latest trends. Much to her surprise, Nino looked apprehensive toward it, fondling her own hair while having a look on her face that implied that it was a tougher choice than normal for her.

"Well, maybe just my bangs." She answered, fixing her new ribbons into her hair as the fourth sister approached them from behind.

"Now, now. No time to waste! Let's start studying! Our make-up exam is just around the corner!" She said, holding up her math notebook. "Let's start with math, then English, and we'll see where we go from there."

"Same goes for you, Yotsuba," Nino said, crossing her arms.

"Hey, I heard something about our new school." Ichika interrupted, snapping her fingers to get everybody's attention. "You know how we're taking the make-up exam now, right? I heard that they're especially strict about it. If you fail the make-up of the make-up, then you'll get kicked out!" That foreboding statement made all of their eyes widen in shock.

"That's just a rumor, right?" Itsuki's voice was nervous, filled with trepidation as the thought of failure permeated her thoughts. Nevertheless, the five of them set aside some chairs and a table in order to start studying for their quiz.

"I can't take it anymore!" Nino moaned, her head colliding with the table as her brain continues frying under all of the information she forced herself to read.

"I'm at my limit. This English quiz is going to be the one that kicks me out." Miku spoke, her voice morose as the reality of their idiocy came rushing toward them. The quickly became disheartened, losing confidence and hope for their new life in this new school, all except one.

"Don't worry, Miku! I'll teach you!" Yotsuba shot out of her seat, enthusiastically taking her sister's hands in her own. "Here, look at these notes. I made them so they're super easy to understand!" She thrust another notebook onto her sister before going to read another set of questions to try and comprehend them.

"An example, huh?"

"She's been pretty pleased with herself ever since the coach told us to follow her example."

"Yeah... ever since then, Yotsuba's really changed," Nino said, her gut twisting in an uncomfortable way as she watched her sister read the next problem set. The sisters could only stand aside as Yotsuba took every question in and attempted to teach them.

"Dad, look at this!" Yotsuba ran into the doctor's office, proudly raising a sheet of paper above her head. "I got the best score out of the five of us on the last test again!"

"Good work," Maruo replied coldly, his eyes only on the paper for a fraction of a second before returning to the monitor of his computer.

"The track team tried to scout me too! But I turned them down! It was an easy choice since I want to focus on studying!" Yotsuba said, slightly irked by her new father's lack of appreciation.

"Continue applying yourself moving forward." He said, clicking away on the keypad as Yotsuba shuffled away.

"He's kinda cold... and he's barely home too..." She muttered to herself as she started her jog back home. "Mom would've praised me more, right?" She asked, looking up at the starless sky with no moon in sight. "Right?"

Soon after her conversation with her father, Yotsuba dragged a box out of her room. Its contents were an assortment of games, a few controllers, and the console to play them on; all brand new. "You're not going to play with them anymore?" Miku asked, having happened upon the scene first.

"That's right! I've graduated from games, they get in the way of my studies." Yotsuba said, feigning maturity even though she actually still wanted to play with them.

"Then maybe I'll borrow them." The quiet sister knelt down, reading the titles on each game carefully.

"Geez, you're such a kid, Miku." Yotsuba sighed, seeing that her sister had gotten her eyes glued to a game starring Nobunaga.

"Maybe we should send some to Mutsumi, I'll go ask the others," Miku said, a small smile on her face as she desperately tried to drag the box into her room. In the end, she was too weak to do it so Yotsuba had to assist her.

"Nice. I'm getting better at this." Yotsuba thought to herself, smiling contently at the test she had just gotten back. Thirty-one correct answers, a far cry from perfection but still an improvement from how she was previously. "If I just keep going at this pace..."

"Yotsuba!" Miku cheered, running up to her sister after she retrieved her own test. "Look! This is the highest I've scored! It's all thanks to that game you lent me!" Holding up a paper with forty-two points, the third sister smiled as Yotsuba's eyes widened in shock and envy.

"That's great..." Yotsuba said as a reflex. She clicked her tongue, catching herself as she mimicked the doctor's reaction. She returned to her seat, pulling out a notebook to list down the areas she needed to improve. "If Miku got a good score, then I just have to get a better one!" She thought, glaring at the third sister from across the room. She studied relentlessly, throwing herself into textbook after textbook in an attempt to raise her scores. But all she got for her efforts were scores that hovered around the low thirties, the latest one being a twenty-nine.

"Why!?" Yotsuba asked herself as she shut the door to her bedroom, locking herself in to ponder her situation. "Why do I even study?" Her grades were slipping, her sisters were catching up to her; why was she working so hard if all she could show for it was mediocrity?

"It's okay to not be special. What's important is that the six of you stay together."

"But we're not together anymore? Is it really that important if we're doing fine even if we're apart?" She muttered, mulling over her mother's final lesson. "I don't understand."

Time would not wait for her to process those words, the years passing by for all of them as the five of them continued their education in Kurobara. In that time, a small rift started to form between them, their personalities starting to diverge and come into their own. And the one that was the most distinct, the one that stood above them in a literal sense, was Yotsuba. "Members of the track team, please come on stage. Congratulations on advancing to the inter-high."

Having given up on academics, the fourth sister put everything she had into the clubs that yearned for her. Track, soccer, softball, if it was a sport then Yotsuba was on the team. However, it didn't go unnoticed. "Yotsuba... I know you've been trying really hard for the clubs. But have you been studying properly?" Miku approached, mustering what little courage she had to walk up to her in the hallway. "If you'd like, I could teach her." She could have chosen her words a little better, because the moment that she stopped speaking, Yotsuba turned around, walking with the other members of the track team.

"I'm different from you guys now. Don't group me together with you." She said, her eyes focused on the next team she was going to join. She left her sisters there, going on her own in order to rack up her trophies and medals in competitions all through the year. She smiled, looking at her latest medal, feeling accomplished due to the praise being directed at her, and only her. She was proud to be on that pedestal, on a stage where the others could only dream of standing. But after pride comes the fall.

"You have failed your second make-up exam. Nakano Yotsuba-san, you're hereby expelled." A teacher broke the bad news, staring at her with papers in their hands.

"Huh? You're kidding, right? I've produced such strong results in the clubs. The basketball team just reached nationals with me." Unable to accept reality, she tried to weasel her way out of the hole she dug herself.

"Those are not relevant to the situation. I've warned you multiple times about your grades. Please, pack up your belongings." The teacher told her coldly, filing away the papers and ending the discussion. Yotsuba left that room, her body feeling heavier than lead. She turned to the people she thought would stand by her.

"Nakano-san. I never thought you'd be satisfied with just club activities." Yet they all shared the teacher's mindset, though with a little more understanding. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do."

The doctor was brought in, having private discussions with the head of the school. "It appears that this matter can be resolved with a simple transfer. I have an acquaintance that serves as the head of a co-ed school. You will start attending there once summer break ends." He said, leaving no room for negotiation as the situation spiraled out of Yotsuba's control. "It's fortunate that there is no need to move, and that you and your sisters can still live together."

"Just me... but I was supposed to be special... I've worked so hard, so why am I alone? If I end up being alone... what will I do to become special? How do I move forward..."

As her vision started to spin, her mind filling itself with thoughts of isolation and dread, a voice was loud enough to steady her. "Wait!"

"If Yotsuba's going to transfer, then so are we!" Standing in the doorway, the rest of her sisters interjected.

"What are you girls saying? You all passed the test!"

"Yes, we did pass. Thanks to cheating, that is!" One by one, they each held out cheatsheets, neatly folded and filled with notes of their previous exam. Yotsuba could only stare in amazement, unable to speak due to shock. "Yotsuba, I don't know what's going through your head, but I would absolutely hate to lose another one of us. I won't allow it."

"No matter where you go, we'll follow you."

"Because that's what mom taught us."

"No matter what happens, we'll split it into six equal parts. I'm sure that we can overcome any hardship together." Her sister's words did what the news didn't; it brought her to tears.

"So that's what mom meant..." Yotsuba cried, thankful that her sisters had come to her rescue. With the end of summer break and a new haircut, they started their life in this new school. Itsuki had already met a rude boy, but she was sure that she wouldn't have any trouble. Described as a hermit with perfect grades, that boy often ate alone since he didn't have any friends. His meals were simple, murmurs of which saying that he cheats the system in order to save money. It wouldn't be until lunch break came that she met with the boy in person. He dropped his test near their table, Ichika driving him away by teasing him.

"Studying during lunch? He sure is weird..." Yotsuba thought, cheerily walking toward the black-haired boy sitting over a yakiniku set without yakiniku, eating all alone.