Nayuta was clever enough. She targeted Ichika because she knew this woman didn't have that kind of relationship with Makoto yet, making her easier to bully, and indeed she was 'useless'.
Ichika's body stiffened.
The smile on her face froze.
Nayuta's words had clearly hurt Ichika's pride.
Ichika lowered her head and quickly walked away. If she stayed another second, she might have started crying.
The other four sisters spoke up. "Nayuta, that was too much!"
"Yeah! Ichika has been working really hard!"
"Hey! You're being too—"
Nayuta shrugged, looking indifferent. "If she thinks I've gone too far, then she'd better be useful next time we transmigrate."
She turned and left with her little sidekick, not looking back.
The four sisters were left speechless.
Even the gentler-natured Megumi, Yui, Marina, and others couldn't argue with Nayuta. Not only because they didn't dare offend Nayuta, but also, upon reflection, what she said was true.
Back in the One Piece World during training, Ichika was rarely seen.
She also wasn't good at housework like Mrs. Yuigahama or Mrs. Yukinoshita.
On second thought, she really wasn't useful.
"What? Are you going to tattle to Makoto-kun?"
Nayuta walked a few steps, half-turned, and said without a hint of worry.
Because she knew very well that Makoto wouldn't get angry with her over something so trivial. Besides, Ichika wasn't even officially in the family.
The four sisters stood there, looking at each other.
During dinner, Ichika didn't come.
Seeing Ichika's empty seat, Makoto raised an eyebrow.
'First Itsuki, now Ichika. Why were these quintuplets always causing trouble lately?'
But just as Nayuta had predicted, Makoto ignored it.
After dinner, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, and Itsuki went to Ichika's room to comfort her.
"Don't be sad," Yotsuba said, holding Ichika's hand, her eyes wet. "Nayuta has that kind of temper. Don't hold it against her."
Itsuki also tried to comfort her. "Ichika, you're already amazing! You're in a TV drama!"
Miku didn't speak, just sat beside her, gently patting her back.
Nino, who wasn't good at comforting, sat quietly on Ichika's other side.
Ichika kept her head down, her eyes red, but held back her tears. "I'm fine..."
Yeah, no one believed her.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock came at the door.
Makoto's voice came from outside. "Is Itsuki in there?"
Yotsuba hurried to open the door.
Makoto walked in, holding a delicate small box.
Yotsuba asked curiously, "Makoto-kun, what brings you here?"
Makoto glanced at the five sisters in the room without saying much. He walked over to Itsuki and handed her the small box.
"This is the Wind-Wind Fruit. Want to eat it?"
"Wind-Wind Fruit?"
The five sisters were stunned at once.
That was a very rare Logia-type Devil Fruit, the ability of Revolutionary Army Commander, Monkey D. Dragon, which is very powerful. They had seen Dragon use it during the Summit War… it was definitely top-tier among Logias.
Itsuki's eyes lit up.
She reached out and took the box.
But her hand stopped in mid-air.
She looked at the box, then at Ichika sitting in the corner, her eyes red.
"Makoto-kun..." She looked up at Makoto. "Could you... give this Devil Fruit to Ichika?"
Makoto's gaze turned to Ichika.
His eyes lingered on her reddened eyes for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
The four sisters looked at each other.
Finally, Miku repeated to Makoto what Nayuta had said to Ichika after school.
"Nayuta said... Itsuki is useless..." Miku's voice was very soft. "And told Itsuki to eat the Ripe-Ripe Fruit..."
The room fell silent.
After hearing this, Makoto was silent for a moment.
Then, he scratched his head, inwardly cursing that girl Nayuta.
"Ichika."
"Don't hold it against Nayuta. Her personality is just that nasty."
Ichika kept her head down, murmuring 'Mm' without a trace of emotion in her voice. From Makoto's attitude, she knew he would never blame Nayuta for her sake.
"Makoto-kun, you don't need to comfort me," Ichika forced a faint smile. "I'm fine."
The room fell silent again.
Watching Ichika so gloomy, Makoto sat down on the chair next to her.
"Speaking of which, this place is a real mess, isn't it?"
Ichika blushed slightly. "I... I was planning to clean up tonight..."
"Alright." Makoto waved his hand. "A king has a king's talent, a cook has a cook's talent. Not everyone has to shine in combat."
Yotsuba asked, "Makoto-kun, are you trying to get Itsuki to support like Erina?"
Makoto paused, looking at Ichika, who was keeping her head down and silent.
To be honest, with Ichika's talent, support wasn't really possible either.
After all, to go to the battlefield, even if you aren't good at fighting, you at least need to know the basics.
It's like playing soccer. You don't have to be able to score, but you at least need to know how to kick the ball.
"If you want to be an actress, then be an actress." Makoto said. "Providing everyone with interesting works to relax is also contributing to the team, isn't it?"
Ichika looked up at Makoto.
Just then, Itsuki remembered that Ichika had invited her to watch a drama earlier, so she changed the subject.
"Let's all watch the drama Ichika is in!"
"Right, right, let's watch!" Yotsuba joined in the excitement.
"I want to see how Ichika does too!" Nino and Miku also nodded.
Makoto, being gracious, stayed to watch.
They turned on the TV and played the drama Ichika was appearing in for the first time.
During this time, Nino had planned to hug Makoto's arm, but Miku beat her to it, grabbing his left hand.
Nino looked displeased and was about to grab his other hand, but unexpectedly, Yotsuba was quick and grabbed it, grinning at Nino.
"Sorry, this spot's taken."
Nino was furious.
'Yotsuba was usually so clueless, how was it that she had gotten sharper after falling in love?'
Then, before Nino could make another move, Itsuki lay down directly on Makoto's lap for a lap pillow.
Left with no choice, Nino finally hugged Makoto's neck from behind, her two ample breasts resting on top of his head.
Makoto was utterly speechless.
'Were you trying to suffocate me with your boobs?'
And while the four sisters were competing for his attention, they completely failed to notice that Ichika, left out, was even more depressed.
Makoto was dumbfounded.
'Were you here to comfort your sister or to sabotage her?'
Then, the drama began.
Makoto was surprised to find that the lead was actually that 'Bunny Girl Senpai', Sakurajima Mai.
Seeming to notice Makoto's surprise, Ichika took a deep breath, barely managing to restore her normal mood, and introduced Sakurajima Mai to him.
"She's been a household name as a child star in Japan since she was six, and she's been famous ever since."
Makoto nodded and continued watching the drama with the five sisters.
As time went on, Ichika's 'advanced extra', which made it was hard to say if she was the fourth or fifth female lead, finally appeared.
And as they watched, Makoto and the others were somewhat surprised. Even though this was Ichika's first time in a drama, her acting was in no way inferior to Mai, who had been a child star. She wasn't stage-frightened at all.
Her lines were clear, her emotions on point, even the little subtle movements felt natural.
Yotsuba couldn't help but praise her sister. "Ichika, you're amazing!"
Ichika scratched her cheek, a little embarrassed.
"After spending decades in the One Piece World, even though I didn't train much physically, I did keep practicing my acting." Ichika continued. "And after seeing so many big scenes in that world, I don't get stage-frightened in front of the camera anymore."
The four sisters encouraged Ichika to continue on the path of acting.
They were sure Ichika would become a big star like Mai, or even better.
"Ichika, you can definitely do it!"
"Right, Ichika is so talented!"
"When Ichika gets famous, we'll be a big star's little sisters!"
"Everyone... thank you."
The corners of Ichika's mouth finally turned up.
Just then, Makoto suddenly stood up.
"I've suddenly got a burst of inspiration."
Leaving these words behind, he left the room under the surprised gazes of the quintuplets.
A few minutes later, he called Eriri over.
Eriri, rubbing her eyes, still in her pajamas, yawned. "Makoto-kun, what is it? It's the middle of the night..."
Makoto pulled Eriri into his arms and whispered a few words in her ear.
Eriri suddenly woke up.
"Huh? Are you serious?"
"Write it down for me," Makoto said.
Eriri nodded.
She picked up a paintbrush clipped to her pajama pocket and activated her Brush-Brush Fruit's ability.
Makoto began to describe—
"This story is called [White Album 2]."
"The protagonist, Kitahara Haruki, is a guitarist belonging to the Shuchi'in Academy's Music Club. He wants to put a perfect end to his high school career at the school festival."
"During preparations, he meets Ogiso Setsuna, who has won the school beauty crown for two consecutive years, and Touma Kazusa, the unattainable flower..."
Yes, after watching the drama played by Mai and Ichika, this bastard Makoto was feeling the urge to write again, a relic of his past life as a web novelist.
And coincidentally, his wife Eriri was a user of the Brush-Brush Fruit, so he could have her write for him.