And we are back to another daily update by yours truly! I'm gonna be honest with you, guys. I was really nervous about the flashbacks, because I thought they would be boring, cringey, or just plain unnecessary. However, against all my expectations, the readers liked how things turned out and for that, I have to say thank you so much for everything. All of your kind words only motivate me to write even more, and I will continue to do so. Before we head to the chapter, don't forget to add this story to your list of favorites/follows if you want to see more fluff! We are VERY close to reaching 300 favorites, and it's one step closer to taking this fic to the very top of the archive! With that being said, let's move into this new chapter!

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Disclaimer: I don't own the Quintessential Quintuplets, or any of its characters...

"I won't be home until five in the afternoon, at the very least," Fuutarou explained his intentions to his father and sister as the three ate their breakfast. Oh wait, he was already done eating, but he hasn't left the table yet because he was still talking to his family. "I have never been to their house before, so I am not sure how far it is exactly from here, but there's no doubt that it would take me some time to get home."

Thanks to Itsuki informing him of the sisters' decision before he could sleep last night, he could explain to his family right away that he won't need to send them a lame text message later on that he would be coming home later than usual. Who knows what kind of inconvenience would happen later on that will prevent him from contacting his family?

Nope, best to get this over with now, and ease their worry for him later on.

"Do what you have to do, just take care of yourself," Isanari waved an arm lazily, as though he didn't really care if his son might arrive home late. His eyes then widened upon remembering something important, before sending Fuutarou an eager look. "Oh, if you see Maruo in their home, tell him that Isanari's asking him to go out for drinks like the old days! I'm free any day of the week!"

"I'm pretty sure the girls' father isn't even home, but I suppose we'll see," Fuutarou folded his arms and shook his head in amusement.

Raiha had a thoughtful look on her face, thinking about what her brother meant with his words. She already knew about this when he and his two students revealed that their tutoring sessions will no longer be held in their home, but rather the girls' apartment. She was fine with it last night, but now she didn't know what to feel. Her brother coming home late from teaching Yotsuba and Itsuki? It would mean that they'd have to eat without him, and that never happened before!

"Onii-chan, will you be back in time for dinner? We can't just eat without you!" she asked, while hoping that Fuutarou would still get home in time for them to eat dinner as a family.

"I'm not sure if I can make it in time, but I will try my best. If I don't, then just eat without me. Don't think that my presence is more important than filling an empty stomach with food," he said, before raising a finger as though he was giving her an important lecture.

"But Onii-chan, we always eat together!"

"Now, now, Raiha…" Isanari cut in, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder to calm her down before something else happens. "Your brother knows his responsibilities as the tutor of those girls and he learned that when he took this job. I'm proud of him for learning all of those, honestly. Plus, he's doing this for the family, it's not like he's skipping dinner to go out with one of them on a date."

The young man across them rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Very funny, Pops…"

Isanari sent him a teasing grin, before turning his attention back to the younger girl. "Anyway, Raiha. It's not really a big deal that your brother might not eat dinner with us. There can be times where I work overtime and I'm not here to join the two of you, and there may even be an instance in the future where you won't be able to eat at the same time as your brother and I because you're busy with something. Nothing really changes if we eat altogether or not. You're just not used to your brother not being around you when it's time to eat, that's all. Ain't that right, kiddo?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" he shrugged his shoulders before giving his sister a smile. "What do you say if I buy us a box of pizza later on when I go home, Raiha? I forgot if I have informed the two of you about this, but I actually got my first salary last Friday from Itsuki. She also paid for Yotsuba in advance, so what was supposed to be my initial payment has been doubled and I have some money to spare."

Raiha's eyes widened and her jaw all but dropped out of shock. "Pizza? Yes please, Onii-chan! It's been a long time since we've had pizza!" she exclaimed with excitement in her tone, already forgetting about her worries in favor of having something that they rarely ate due to their budget.

Fuutarou smiled at his sister's reaction, which was one of the few things that can make him smile in a genuine manner. "Alright then, I'll bring home a box later on. Just make sure to eat dinner even if I'm not around, alright?"

Hearing that caused the very thought of it to go back to Raiha, which only lasted for a few seconds as she let out a deep sigh of defeat.

"Okay…"

"Good," the young man chuckled and reached over to pat her head before standing up from the table so he could put away his plate. "I suppose that's everything I need to tell you two, and now I can go to school without worrying about anything else. I'll see you both tonight, and I'll send you a text when I'm on my way home."

"You just want to see your two beautiful girlfriends again, don't you?" Isanari teased, which surprisingly caused his son to blush for a second, before shaking his head to get rid of his father's words in his mind.

"Try saying that in front of their father, Pops," Snapping himself out of his embarrassment, Fuutarou rolled his eyes in annoyance before letting out a sigh. Somehow, he was expecting his father to make another remark about his two students, but to imply that they were his girlfriends was something that caught him off guard. Well, maybe because it was somehow true? They were soulmates, which was as close as you could get without the relationship being completely official. "I'll see you later, Raiha. I'll bring home pizza, don't worry."

After putting his plate and utensils in the sink, Fuutarou grabbed his bag and walked out of the door, but not before waving his arm at his family in farewell. Raiha did the same, and even added some parting words before her brother leaves.

"Bye, Onii-chan! Say hi to Itsuki-san and Yotsuba-san for me!"

Fuutarou only nodded before walking out, leaving Raiha and Isanari as the only ones left inside the house. The older man crossed his arms over his chest, never losing the grin of amusement that was plastered on his face since earlier.

"Your brother really loves to play as the moody kid when he already has a soft side dedicated to those girls! I haven't seen him look bored in a week when he usually is!"

"I know, Dad! I've never seen Onii-chan act this way to anyone else except for us! Do you think Itsuki-san and Yotsuba-san are changing him, Dad? They've been really good friends with Onii-chan from how they all treat each other," Raiha asked with sparkles in her eyes.

"Heh. Only time will tell, Raiha. He hasn't even met all of them, if I recall correctly! We can only guess what happens once he does!" All of a sudden, he felt his phone ring inside his pocket, causing him to react quickly. "Wait a minute, I need to answer this, Raiha."

The girl only nodded as she piled all of the dishes that they used and took them to the sink, while Isanari rushed outside and pulled out his phone, before answering the call.

"Yo! Isanari here, who's this?" he said in his usual boisterous tone, grinning widely.

A cold snicker could be heard from the other line, one that the blonde Uesugi remembered well. "It's been years since we last spoke to one another, and you still haven't changed at all. You're as loud as ever, Isanari."

The grin from his face slowly fell, and was replaced with a look of shock. Perhaps if it was the other way with him calling the other guy, it would be less of a shocker, but it wasn't. The same cold and silent nerd whom he knew from his high school days was the one who willingly called him.

"Maruo…?"

~~XoXo~~

"Hey, isn't that him? That social outcast from the second-years?"

"You mean Uesugi?"

"Yeah, I've been hearing from my pals that he got hugged right here by the newest student… is it true?"

"I guess…? That's the first I've heard of that, but I guess it's not different from when he was hugged in the middle of a classroom from what my buddies told me…"

"Hey, what are the chances that he got hugged by the same girl?"

"Woah, what?! That's crazy!"

"I know, right? What the hell did he do for a girl to hug him outta nowhere? Wait, he must be blackmailing her into acting like she loves him! Yeah, I can't think of any reason other than that!"

"What a dick… forcing a girl to act like that for him…"

"I know, right? What do you say we report him to the teachers?"

"Nah, let them discover him for themselves. He'll get what he deserves soon enough…"

Fuutarou didn't let himself get affected by the words of a pair of male students as he walked inside the school premises. He only resigned himself to shake his head in disappointment in other students, but not for himself. He wouldn't really care for other people on a normal basis but now, he can't help but feel bad for the students who let themselves get fooled by a stupid rumor and don't even bother investigating if it's really true.

It's pitiful to see how people believe almost anything nowadays.

If he lets himself give in to their attempts in further spreading the rumor about him and Itsuki being in a relationship, it'll only be worse for the two of them and that goes the same for all of her sisters, actually.

It wasn't just these two boys, by the way. Fuutarou could hear the murmurs from various other students around him, but he could only form precise words from the pair whom he had just walked by. Everyone else was purely speaking gibberish from his point of view, because he didn't bother to give a damn about them. Even if he did, there's no way that he'd be able to stop the rumor from spreading and the only thing he can do is lay low and hope that the sisters would do the same.

Not wanting a repeat of yesterday's events, Fuutarou quickly glanced behind him to see if Yotsuba was there with the intention of hugging him again but luckily, she wasn't. He released a small sigh of relief upon seeing that there was no sign of her, while feeling somehow disappointed at the same time.

Why?

Of course, it had something to do with her actions last night. It's not like he was asking for her to come crashing into him again, but it would be good for the both of them to talk about the kiss she gave him.

Fuutarou knew that there were underlying feelings behind that, but he can't just jump to conclusions. Some friends do kiss each other on the cheek but it was very rare, not that he would know something like that. For now, it's just an assumption on his part until he can talk to Yotsuba about it. There was the risk of her lying, but he'll deal with that as it comes along.

He could also talk to Itsuki about it, though. There's no doubt that that girl wanted to talk to Yotsuba for what she did, but it wouldn't be as legitimate as talking to the fourth quintuplet for an explanation.

The young man continued on his walk towards the door to the school, when he noticed a familiar hair color from the corner of his eye.

One of the Nakano quintuplets with long hair was waving at him from one of the trees near the school borders, which meant that she must be calling out for him without making it too obvious. Hm, what could it be about and who was this? The only long-haired girls he knew about were Itsuki and Nino, so it could only be between the two of them. He didn't know what Ichika and Miku looked like and they could have long hair too, but he had not even met them yet. This one has gotta be either Itsuki or Nino.

Good thing he always makes sure to arrive in school at least forty-five minutes before classes start, so he can spare some time for the quintuplet who wanted to talk to him.

After making sure that nobody around him had any ideas of tailing him or anything, Fuutarou made his way to where the red-haired girl was and tried to focus on finding out who she was. As he got closer to her, he took notice of the butterfly ribbons on her hair as well as the purple jacket that she was wearing.

"Why didn't I think of this before? Not only do they have different accessories, but they have different clothes as well..." Fuutarou thought, feeling stupid for not noticing it before. Well, not exactly clothes, but rather what they wear along with their uniforms. Itsuki had that red shirt over her uniform while Yotsuba had a yellow one that went well with her green ribbon.

And for Nino, she wore a slightly oversized jacket which was the same as the girl who called out for him by waving her arm. There's no doubt that this was the second quint, then… and she had a smile on her face as he walked closer towards her.

"Good morning, Fuu-kun!" she spoke in a tone that was very reminiscent of her sister Yotsuba's. Hm, looks like she was in a good mood today… did something happen that got her smiling like this?

He gave her a small bow, acknowledging her way of greeting before giving her a polite smile. "Good morning, Nino. Did you need to talk to me about something?"

"That's right," she nodded, before raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Did you receive Itsuki's message? She told us that she texted you before going to bed last night about what we all decided on."

Fuutarou nodded. "I did. I suppose I should thank all of you for letting me hold our tutoring sessions in your home, as much as I feel like it would be intruding on your part..."

"Why thank us? You're tutoring Yotsuba and Itsuki, aren't you? If they want you to teach them in our apartment, then go for it. Plus, it's not like you're a stranger to us," she explained, placing her hands on her hips before remembering an important detail. "Well, for Ichika and Miku, you are since they haven't met you yet."

"Trust me. You don't know how much pain my legs have been going through for one week now… this new arrangement will save me a lot more energy if I go to your place instead, then make only one trip home. You won't have to worry about your sisters either, because they're already home and they won't need to leave."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Anyway, you can walk with us later on after school," she told him, causing the young man to feel confused. Nino saw this coming, and proceeded to continue with her words. "You don't know the way to our apartment, right? We'll show you the way there, so just follow us when it's time to go home."

His eyes widened completely for a few moments before everything went dark around the two of them, which almost caused Nino to panic until a divine light shone on Fuutarou. This looked similar to when he tasted the bento she made for him, especially since he was kneeling right in front of her as if she was royalty.

"Your help is much appreciated, Kami-sama. Is that all you wished to tell me?"

"Seriously, stop praising me like that, you idiot…" Nino stammered in embarrassment, looking away so that he won't be able to see her blushing face. This only lasted for a few seconds, because she was able to snap out of her flustered state in favor of something else that was on her mind. "Hold on. That's just the other half, because I got something else to ask you."

All of a sudden, things went back to normal between the two of them; everything wasn't dark, there's no light shining down on Fuutarou, and he wasn't kneeling before her.

How dramatic.

"Which is?" he asked.

Nino was about to say something, but hesitated for a moment and it looked like she was nervous for some reason. What exactly could be bothering her right now? Fortunately for Fuutarou, he didn't dwell on that matter for long because her look of uneasiness only lasted for a few seconds, before she shook her head and began to speak anyway.

"Do you know about the fireworks festival happening this Sunday?"

"Of course," he nodded slowly, although he was confused about what this had to do with their discussion. It seemed so out of topic for some reason. "Raiha's been asking my old man and I if we can go attend the event. Is there any reason you're asking me such a thing?"

"Well... I want you to go with me there! A-As my date…!" Nino declared hotly with a red face, while jabbing her finger straight into his chest in order to emphasize her statement.

His reaction to her words couldn't be any more obvious.

Okay, that's that. We got a wholesome family moment with Fuutarou, Raiha and Isanari, ending with the latter receivinf a phone call from Maruo. Hmm, what could he possibly want to talk about? Perhaps... something to do with his daughters? :) OH, AND HOLY SHIT! JUST AFTER THE MEATBUN MONSTER RAMPAGE AND RIBBONMANIA SPENT THE MAJORITY OF THE PAST CHAPTERS IN ADVANCING THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH FUUTAROU, THE NINO TRAIN COMES IN WITH A MOVE OF HER OWN! How will this play out? Find out in 24 hours!

Goodbye... and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance