As she spoke, she rubbed her neck, unable to keep a happy expression from showing. "I have to say, it really feels great."
"Oh, so you just gave her a massage." Nakano Itsuki finally understood.
Still, she reminded her, "Nino, you should get down first. What kind of girl climbs onto a guy's bed and lies there?"
Nakano Nino said, "Please call me Ichika."
Nakano Itsuki blinked. "?"
This time, Nakano Ichika caught on. "Wait, you mean he didn't realize you were pretending to be me?"
"Right." Nakano Nino thought her expression was adorable.
Nakano Ichika did not find it adorable.
She bit her lip, her small, pale hands clenching into fists.
That kind of pampering should have been mine!
It was supposed to be all mine!
Why had I suggested that we pretend to be each other as a prank?
I was such an idiot!
Nakano Ichika was seriously disgruntled.
She had never gotten to enjoy that kind of treatment, and now Nino had beaten her to it.
She could tell from Nino's expression that nothing had happened between her and Fushimi Makoto.
But she could still see how relaxed and blissful Nino looked.
"Is he good at massages?" Nakano Ichika couldn't help asking.
Nakano Nino perked up at once. "He made me feel so good. I suspect he's had professional training. Otherwise, there's no way he'd be that good."
"Really?" Nakano Itsuki was curious now, too.
"I promise I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, Itsuki, you can ask him to give you a massage. You're friends with him anyway. As for Ichika..."
Nakano Nino couldn't help laughing again, her bright eyes fixed on the disgruntled Ichika. "I'm Ichika now, and you're Nino, so you can't ask him to help you."
Nakano Ichika was completely flushed.
She took a deep breath, a radiant smile spreading across her face. "So you're saying I still have to pretend to be you, right?"
Nakano Nino was just about to answer when Ichika said with a sweet smile, "What if I went to see him right now, used your identity, took off my thigh-highs, and showed him my legs?"
Nakano Itsuki's eyes widened. Do you two really go that far?
"What are you talking about? Who's showing me their legs?" Fushimi Makoto's voice came from behind them.
The three girls instantly became well-behaved.
Nakano Nino hurriedly got down, too. Seeing Fushimi Makoto wiping his hands with a tissue, she remembered that he had just massaged her feet and blushed.
Fushimi Makoto noticed and explained, "Don't worry, there's no smell. I was just about to cook, so I decided to wash my hands first."
He was telling the truth. Nino's "delicacies" really didn't smell, and the two of them had agreed to prank Ichika, so they couldn't let the secret out yet.
That was what you called an Odorless Contract.
But Nakano Nino didn't see it that way.
You idiot, don't say that kind of thing out loud!
She had only been feeling smug for a moment, and now she was blushing, too.
Fushimi Makoto turned to Ichika and Itsuki. "It's almost dinnertime anyway. Why don't you stay and eat?"
"Thanks for having us," Nakano Ichika replied quickly. That had been her plan all along.
There had been too many unexpected twists in the plan. She had to figure out a way to salvage it.
Seeing that she had answered, Nakano Itsuki followed with a "Thanks for having us."
The four of them returned to the living room. Fushimi Makoto tied on an apron and glanced at the three girls sitting quietly on the sofa, amused.
Now, only Nakano Itsuki still seemed to care about the plan. The other two were probably lost in their own thoughts.
Ichika was sulking over her prank.
Nino was blushing and thinking that her feet definitely didn't smell, while also fretting that she should find an excuse to go home and change her underwear.
But Fushimi Makoto's combo wasn't over yet.
He turned to Ichika and said, "Nino, I heard you're a great cook. Why don't you give me a hand?"
Nakano Ichika pointed at herself, looking bewildered. "Huh? Me?"
Her expression was as if she'd just been asked to go defeat the Tang Monk and his disciples.
Nakano Itsuki gave her a discreet look: How about we just end this role-playing game?
But Nakano Ichika shook her head and stood up. "Got it. I'll help you."
She was frustrated about the prank, but Makoto thought she was Nino. Being asked to help in the kitchen wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
After all, cooks could sneak a bite or two.
She just didn't know what she'd be sneaking a bite of.
Watching the two of them enter the kitchen, Nakano Itsuki murmured, "Ichika actually went. Can she even help?"
Nakano Nino pursed her lips and shoved a cookie into her mouth. "She's the one who insisted. It has nothing to do with me..."
She paused, swallowed the cookie, then smiled proudly. "I was the MVP of this prank. She just got to coast to victory. She didn't lift a finger the whole time."
Nakano Itsuki rolled her eyes. "You still care about that? Aren't you worried this will end badly?"
"How could it end badly? Ichika suggested the prank. If she can't help in the kitchen, she'll just embarrass herself."
Nakano Nino said it without a care.
Then Nakano Itsuki asked, "Ichika's cooking probably won't help Fushimi. So why did she volunteer to go over there instead of confessing about the prank?"
Nakano Nino froze.
That was true.
Why had she?
Right then, the doorbell rang.
The little workshop really didn't hold back!
In the kitchen, Nakano Ichika tied on an apron, but didn't help Fushimi Makoto chop vegetables.
Without hesitation, she pulled off her wig, puffed out her cheeks, and glared at Fushimi Makoto. Her frustration and anxiety practically spilled from her eyes. "Makoto, I'm not Nino. I'm Ichika!"
Afraid he wouldn't believe her, she added, "The one outside is the fake. I'm the real Ichika."
Her tone and expression inexplicably reminded Fushimi Makoto of the once-popular online meme from before he'd transmigrated: "I'm the real Nailong."
"So the two of you switched identities?" Fushimi Makoto pretended to understand.
Nakano Ichika nodded vigorously. "Right. This was all just a prank."
"Then who came up with the prank?"
"...I did."
"I see. You came up with the prank, but Nino was the one who worked hard to carry it out. So she's the MVP, and you just coasted to victory."
"That's not true! I was seriously pretending to be Nino, too. I just didn't want to ruin the prank. I came up with the plan, and I was the one who took the initiative to visit. Without me, Nino wouldn't have had a chance to perform at all. Thinking about things that way makes it easy to erase all the effort people put in."
Nakano Ichika launched into a long rebuttal.
On the surface, she was arguing back.
But in her heart, she was thinking: Who's going to make up for the massage I missed out on?
Even she hadn't gotten to enjoy it, but Nino had beaten her to it!
As five sisters who had grown up together, she knew her younger sisters' slightest changes in expression all too well.
Seeing how blissfully happy Nino had looked, Ichika had even started wondering if she'd been so delighted that she could hear splashing.
After all, they were girls going through puberty. It was only natural for them to react that way.
As the two of them talked, Nakano Itsuki's voice came from the living room. "Fushimi, it sounds like you have a visitor."
Fushimi Makoto stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Itsuki, could you get the door? I'm chopping vegetables."
"Sure."
Nakano Itsuki popped another little cookie into her mouth and got up to answer the door.
But as soon as she opened it, she exclaimed, "Teacher Matsukaze?"
The person standing at the door was Matsukaze Mayu, dressed in home clothes and carrying a bag.
"Huh? Itsuki?"
Matsukaze Mayu had met the quintuplets before, but she still found it hard to tell them apart.
But Itsuki was Fushimi Makoto's classmate, and her cowlick was very distinctive, so Matsukaze Mayu recognized her instantly.
When Matsukaze Mayu entered the living room and saw Nakano Nino there, she froze again.
Why were there two girls at Makoto's place?
The next moment, Nakano Ichika poked her head out of the kitchen. "Oh, Teacher Matsukaze? Good afternoon!"
"Oh, hello."
When Matsukaze Mayu saw a third beautiful girl, she could barely keep her composure.
Did I come at a bad time?
The thought crossed her mind, and her mood grew a little heavy.
Just then, Fushimi Makoto walked out. "You came at just the right time, Teacher Matsukaze. I was just thinking that if you didn't come today, I'd go invite you over for dinner later."
"R-really?"
Matsukaze Mayu smiled without meaning to. "So I came at just the right time?"
"I'd say you came at exactly the right time," Fushimi Makoto replied with a smile.
The little bit of gloom in Matsukaze Mayu's heart vanished at once. She hurriedly handed him the bag. "I bought some beef. I can help you in the kitchen."
"You're a guest today. Just relax in the living room." Fushimi Makoto pointed to Nakano Ichika beside him, indicating that he already had help.
Only then did Nino and Itsuki realize what was going on. Ichika had taken off her wig, which meant the prank was over.
So Nino took off her disguise, too.
Matsukaze Mayu saw it but didn't think much of it. She nodded obediently at Fushimi Makoto. "All right. I'll just wait for dinner, then."
She even gave Fushimi Makoto a sweet, generous smile.
The Nakano sisters were instantly puzzled by the scene.
Nakano Ichika thought: So the rumors are true. Teacher Matsukaze really is that gentle.
Nakano Nino thought: Teacher Matsukaze is so petite. With the way she just spoke, you'd think she was the girl next door.
Nakano Itsuki thought: Is it just me, or is Teacher Matsukaze gentler with Fushimi than she is at school? She even seems a little obedient.
Fushimi Makoto chatted briefly with Matsukaze Mayu, then returned to the kitchen with Nakano Ichika.
"Teacher Matsukaze really is gentle," Nakano Ichika said as she helped get the plates.
Fushimi Makoto agreed. "Definitely. Compared to her, even someone like you, who likes to play pranks, seems more like the older one."
Nakano Ichika covered her mouth and giggled. "Can I take that to mean you're calling me mature?"
"Why are you as self-absorbed as Yukinoshita?"
"Huh? Yukinoshita is self-absorbed?"
Before you continue