Thinking Logically

AN: Thank you to those that have favorited/followed so far, and to those that have commented. I was originally planning on waiting longer before writing this next chapter, but I figured why not, the series was still pretty fresh in my mind.

Thinking back on it…

That was when it all started, right?

That tutoring job, really set our lives on the paths they are on now.

…

I guess I was lucky you were dumb, huh?

…

Hey, hey, don't get mad at me! Were you or were you not failing your classes?

…

Yeah, that's what I thought haha.

"Five sisters? Sir, is it really true that your daughters are all quintuplets?"

"…"

"I… I see sir. I hadn't been preparing to teach five students at once."

"…"

"A-Ah, no sir! It won't be a problem at all! I… I am positive that I can help all of them graduate!"

"…!"

"Yes sir! I'll do my very best-"

"Click."

…

"Shit," Fuutaro thought, looking at his phone. He breathed slowly for a moment, listening to his pulse and looking over the balcony he stood on, overlooking a wealthier part of town. From here he could see everything, kids getting ice cream, young couples enjoying the weekend, his dignity where he'd left it, 30 stories down…

The difference of wealth between his family and this one was insane.

As to be expected, he had a lot of questions for the girls, and had thoroughly thought he was being messed with at first. Five siblings? Quintuplets, no less? In terms of statistical anomalies in Japan, even twins were rare enough as is, as well as having multiple children. But quintuplets? That was… insane, to say the least. For him, tutoring a student from his class was a strange albeit doable task normally. He hadn't done it before, but he didn't think tutoring someone would be too terribly difficult, especially since he'd been acing his tests for years.

A group of five students however… would be more difficult to say the least.

Speaking of which…

Fuutaro turned back around, looking into the strange apartment setup past the screen doors. With one massive common area and (apparently) several individual, private rooms, this entire apartment screamed wealth and customization. The "apartment" if one could even call it that, was much more akin to a hotel suite of some sort, and even that was a bit of a stretch. The fact that his own small home could be called a "house", a designation given typically to a larger place of dwelling than this was absurd.

Oh and of course, the tenants.

Fuutaro grimaced as he started walking towards the screen door, preparing to go back inside, as he reminisced the interaction he'd had around five minutes prior.

Nakano-san… Er, Itsuki, that is, had been a bit cold to him, but not terribly so. It was strange, he'd really felt like the two had started getting along better on the walk back, especially since Fuutaro just barely managed to hold his tongue at Itsuki's failures with answering his simple science questions. Once the two had gotten to her home however, her demeanor had changed, likely due to the presence of her fellow quints. She'd promptly gotten too prideful of herself to stay, and had gone upstairs, stating that she'd be studying alone.

The self-proclaimed eldest of the group, Ichika, had actually been extremely friendly to Fuutaro, bordering on flirtatious. She tried teasing him on walking Itsuki home much like a boyfriend would, sparking part of Itsuki's aggressiveness and insistence on studying alone. Fuutaro had just barely managed to keep his cool at this, managing to cover up his embarrassment with concern as Itsuki left to study alone, but then the pink-haired wonder leaned closer, nearly flashing him again, before asking if he was trying to build a harem. That had been enough to make the other quints angry, and Fuutaro blush, not knowing how to react. Having gotten the reaction she wanted, Itsuki had promptly left, going upstairs to her room.

Yotsuba had been the friendliest of the bunch by far, not even getting riled up about Ichika's harem comment. Granted, she might've also just not understood her sister's implications, but Fuutaro liked to think that she also just had… self control? Yotsuba had actually stuck around and continued greeting him in that cuteness of hers (occasionally saluting to him), but had eventually stated that she needed to go upstairs and stretch, being a bit sore from some recreational sports she had already been doing.

The quietest of the group, Miku? She'd done as her superlative might suggest, and had stayed quiet the entire time, before leaving without a word. Fuutaro hadn't even really seen her look in his direction, making him think that it was possible she'd just ignored his presence altogether.

On the flip side, the most violent of the group, the girl with the butterfly hairpins, Nino, had stayed around, surprisingly enough. She actually had been acting really sweet as well, a surprising and suspicious change. Seeing as she had been the one to get physically violent immediately at the sight of him offering her food, Fuutaro was… slightly suspicious of her? She was acting a bit too sweet, but he wasn't complaining.

As Fuutaro finished thinking about his prospective students, his hand finally reached around the handle of the door. Giving it a quick tug, he was surprised when it didn't open, and instead stayed firmly shut. With a quick glance, he saw that the latch was pulled down, indicating that it was locked. A simple fix… for someone on the inside of the apartment.

With this realization, Fuutaro quickly began to panic. His eyes darted around, looking for a way back into the apartment. However, there weren't any other balconies nearby, and the only other place to really go was down…

Unless…!

He quickly maneuvered himself to the glass, nearly pressing his face onto it. Glancing around, he didn't see any of the sisters, and started to knock on the glass, trying to get someone to come and rescue him. After a bit of this however, it doesn't look like anybody is coming, and Fuutaro starts to panic more, realizing that he'd used almost the last of his phone battery getting in contact with the quint's father.

It'd be very unfortunate for him to be hospitalized first day on the job, right?

Thankfully, after a few moments, he sees one of the sisters walking through the common space, looking at her phone. Thinking through the characteristics of the quints, he quickly recognizes the girl, and continues to make a ruckus, trying to get her attention.

"Miku? Miku! Hey can you… Miku! Can you please open the door Miku? Please?" Fuutaro desperately yells. His plea for help however, lands on headphone covered ears. He looks in shock as the girl somehow doesn't notice him, and instead takes a seat on the floor directly next to the glass, keeping her back to the glass and looking to her phone.

"What the fu-" Fuutaro thinks. How could a girl be this oblivious!? Throwing caution to the wind, Fuutaro starts actively banging on the glass, before hissing, his hands throbbing.

"…Reinforced glass? Really? As if this place wasn't bougie enough already…!?" With this new discovery, Fuutaro sighed. Death seemed to be imminent, what was the point? At least now there'd be one less mouth for Raiha to feed, right?

As he started to think dangerous thoughts, his eyes wandered to Miku's screen. Not intentionally by any means, he didn't wish to pry on her personal life or anything, but the movement on her screen caught his eye. When his eyes focused on her screen, he had to rub them briefly and take a better look, to see an unbelievable sight.

"I-Is that… Sengoku Hunnies 3…!?" Fuutaro thought, as he leaned in to look. He'd briefly seen the series at school, when one of the weirder girls in the class had gotten caught playing the game during one of their breaks. Fuutaro had been minding his own business, staying by his locker and packing up his things for class, when a girl had gotten caught by a teacher gaming on her phone. She had dropped the phone out of shock, and it had slid next to his locker. Curious, he had picked it up and handed it to the teacher, though not before seeing the game. It was… a bit of a weird ecchi game, a dating sim where the player would date various old Japanese warlords, though they were turned into handsome young studs, the ideals of male attractiveness.

What he was seeing on screen was definitely not the ideals of male attractiveness.

Instead, he watched as Miku played Sengoku Hunnies 3 with the dating sim characters all being turned into somewhat gross looking old men, complete with the older facial hair styles, and even period appropriate clothes. Fuutaro wasn't the best at recognizing old Japanese Warlords-his history class hadn't covered that segment yet, but even he could recognize the distinctive eyebrows and moustache of the "Great Unifier" of Japan, Oda Nobunaga.

He never expected to see Oda Nobunaga with one hand on his mouth, blushing however.

Fuutaro watched, both parts fascinated and horrified, as Miku bit her lip, blushing a little bit as a dialogue box with different options popped up for the protagonist of the game. He could just barely make out the options…

"I-I love you too, Oda-kun! I want to be with you forever!"

"Eh? What do you mean you love me? Of course you love me, you're my commander, you love all of us, right?"

"We can't, Oda-kun. Our love is too forbidden to do something like this. Maybe after the countryside is unified, you and I can too, be unified-" Fuutaro shuddered at this, as he saw Miku squeal a bit, moving the options down to select the third option. Just as she was about to pick it, however, a notification popped up on the screen, from Itsuki.

"Do you know when Nino is coming back? She's been gone for a while, I hope she cooks dinner soon…" Fuutaro quickly leaned closer, cheering internally. Itsuki! Her phone number briefly popped up on the screen, giving him just enough time to memorize the number. Thank goodness for his memorization exercises! At this, he saw Miku stand up and close the phone, walking away. He considered banging on the screen again but thought otherwise of it, hands still throbbing.

With quick hands, Fuutaro took out his phone and typed in Itsuki's number. Pressing the phone to his ear, he started to pray mentally again, for her to pick up the random number. After two beeps, he heard the phone pick up, and quickly blurted out, "Nakano-san I'm stuck on the balcony please-!"

Then he heard a click.

Pulling the phone away from his face, Fuutaro looked in disbelief at his dead phone. He smiled to it, in disbelief.

"FUCK!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, uncaring of the world. He started pacing around, looking over the balcony. Jump? Climb? Pray? There didn't seem to be a good option out of the group, and lord know he wasn't trying to punch a bulletproof glass. He started thinking through the various options, seeing how they'd play out in his mind. Obituaries, for each one, Raiha growing up without a sibling, his test results, going unused-

The sound of the sliding door opening broke his train of thought.

"Ehehehe, hello Uesugi-kun! Are you gonna tutor Yotsuba today?" He looked up to see the bow-haired sibling beaming at him, legs spread apart, hand on hip, other hand formed into a peace sign, around her eyes. Fuutaro stared, mouth gaping for a moment, before pulling the girl into a hug.

"Thank Kami you came to save me, Yotsuba! I thought I was going to die out there!" Fuutaro shouted, elephant tears drooping from his eyes comedically. He was so happy about being rescued, he forgot about basic personal space, and didn't notice how Yotsuba froze up at his hug, back slightly arched. Had he been paying attention, he would've seen her entire face match the coloration of a tomato, slowly building up from her neck all the way to her temple, even somehow dyeing her bow.

"U-U-U-U-U-" Fuutaro stopped, hearing her stutter, "U-Uesugi-kun! P-P-Please let go of Yotsuba! He quickly separated from her, taking stock of her expression. She looked like a puppet who's strings had been cut, face red and eyes empty, a small ghost Yotsuba popping its head out of her mouth.

"A-Ah! Sorry about that! I was just worried I was going to be out there forever, thank you so much, Yotsuba! You're absolutely correct, let's start studying!" He apologized, placing her on the couch. With his brief adrenaline from being rescued gone, Fuutaro breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm himself. After a few moments, a thought came to his mind, and he turned to the dazed Yotsuba.

"Ne, Yotsuba? Did you see who locked the balcony door by chance? I've been stuck out there since speaking with your father." Yotsuba perked up at her name, and quickly shook off her embarrassment. She thought back to earlier, trying to recall who had been where, and who might've locked the door.

"Ahm… I think maybe Nino-chan-?" she began, before being cut off by the sound of the door to the apartment opening.

"I'm home! Did the tutor die yet or-urk!" the two in the common room turned to see Nino, plastic bags in hand walking in. She adopted the face of someone caught in the act when she saw Fuutaro, and quickly regained her composure.

"Eh? Uesugi-san? Why do you look so tired?" she asked, feigning innocence. Fuutaro glared, too tired from the stress to really make accusations.

"You know what, it's fine, it's whatever. I don't know where you've been, but are you about ready to study? Your father wanted me to help all five of you pass your classes, you know?"

"…Father wanted that, huh? Well if he wanted that, then of course we're going to. Not that we need you help with it, of course. Outsider," Nino spoke, going from thoughtful about her fathers words to venomous at Fuutaro. Fuutaro felt a sharp pang, but tried to push past, ignoring her words.

"Alright well I'm going to go gather up your sisters, make sure you're ready to study in about ten minutes, alright?" Fuutaro said, standing up from the couch and starting to go up the stairs.

"E-Eh? Are you not gonna ask about how the door ended up locked?" Nino asked, surprised.

"I… It doesn't matter. What matters is that Yotsuba helped me, and we've already wasted enough time that should be spent on tutoring. Yotsuba, can you actually help me find a phone charger? My phone is a bit older, but I want to charge it if that's fine…" he said, turning back to Yotsuba. She perked up from the couch, hand in a salute again.

"Yosh! Leave it to Yotsuba!" Fuutaro smiled at her, taking out his phone and tossing it to her.

"Thanks! I'll go and get your sisters then!" he said, continuing up the stairs.

As he does this, Nino stands in disbelief at the entrance of the apartment. He just… ignored her! Completely ignored her, ignored how the door ended up locked, didn't ask her anything about where she'd been! This wouldn't do, Nino wanted him to get fired from his job after all, and him acting super professional wasn't going to help her in the slightest in that regard.

"Wait, you can't go upstairs, that's where my sisters live!" she shouted, a bit too late as she saw Fuutaro already slip out of sight. She clenched her teeth. So that's how it was going to be, huh? Well she'd play along for now, but it's a good thing that she left to go pick up that… he'd be out of their hair in no time if she played her cards right.

Fuutaro climbed up the stairs, nearly out of breath by the time he got to the top. This place was still insane, with how nice and massive it was. Even now, as he caught his breath, he could still see that there was much more apartment to be explored. Regardless, he steeled himself, and began to walk towards the first of five doors he saw in a large hallway, assuming that they were the quints personal dwellings.

Upon reaching the first door, he held up his hand to the door only to hesitate. Things already had gotten off to a rocky start, he needed to be careful with how he approached each of the sisters. No use in repeating his bad encounter with Itsuki like the first day, for example. With this in mind, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Pardon the intrusion, I just got off the phone with your father and I think it'd be a good idea for us to all study downstairs together~" he said, adding a jovial tune to his voice, that immediately sounded fake even to himself. After a slightly tense moment, he saw the door peek open, and a girl with star hairpins look at him.

"Star hairpins… Itsuki…?" he thought to himself. While examining her, he noticed that her face was slightly tinged red, her eyes darting side to side as though to see if anyone else was with him. Seeing nobody, she reached a hand out and grabbed him by the scruff of the shirt, pulling him inside to his surprise.

"E-Eh? Itsuki what are you-?" he began, before she put a finger to her mouth.

"Shh. I don't want my sisters to hear you, there was something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, licking her lips nervously. At this, Fuutaro began to feel himself sweating. This situation was… uncomfortable to say the least. He could just see past her into the rest of her room, and saw that it was, for the most part, well kept, with pink, fluffy pillows, a desk piled high with books, a slightly overflowing closet. The only thing that really caught his attention was all the candy wrappers, the symbols of a glutton. A sudden realization hit the boy in this moment, as Itsuki looked even more nervous and started to lean closer to him. This… this was his first time in a girl's room, wasn't it? He felt a warmth crawl up his face as he realized this, and coughed quietly into his hand, trying to defuse his embarrassment.

"What is it?"

"I want you to tutor me."

"I-… Okay? That was my intention."

"You misunderstand. I want you to tutor me privately, separately. I don't want my sisters to know that I'm getting your help."

"…Ah, I see. That's indeed different than what I thought. Is there… a particular reason for this?"

"Yes. You're mean."

"I-"

"But you're smart too. I'm… not too good at handling teasing from my sisters, so if they see me trying too hard with you tutoring me, it'll make them suspicious, and tease me more." Fuutaro nodded slowly. He understood why someone like Itsuki might dislike people talking about her behind her back, or even teasing her to her face.

"That makes sense. As long as you tell your father the truth. He did hire me to tutor all of you, after all. If you want to keep your academic success a secret from your sisters, feel free, but I think he should know so he knows I've actually done my job." To this, Itsuki nodded slowly as well, before gesturing to her table.

"Good. I've got a decent amount of books here, do you recognize any of them?" Fuutaro's gaze traveled to where she pointed, and grinned.

"Yep, I think I've read almost all of those, front to back. I could maybe tutor you over the phone? Send you questions a few times a day, and have you answer them and such? As long as you're truthful with yourself about wanting to get better at academics, I think I trust that you won't simply search up the answer to a question." To this statement, Itsuki puffed her cheeks, glaring at him a bit.

"Please, I'm not Nino or Ichika. Yeah, that sounds good. Can you give me your phone? I'll put in my number so you can contact me," she said, extending her hand. Fuutaro began to reach for it, before remembering.

"Actually, Yotsuba has it right now. It died earlier, so she's helping me find a charger. It's alright though, I already have your number-" he said, trailing off when he realized what he had said. At this, Itsuki's face looked confused, before she registered what he had said. She then started to turn bright red, balling her fists.

"How do you have my phone number already!? Where'd you get it from!?" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. Fuutaro flinched at the sudden change of volume, and pointed at the wall towards the other sisters rooms, a sign to keep quieter.

"I-I'm sorry! I got it from your sister earlier, Nino locked me on the balcony so I needed help getting back in the apartment-!" he explained, holding his hands up to try and calm her. To his surprise, Itsuki simply pressed more, walking closer to him.

"My sister? Which sister? Which sister gave you my phone number?" she demanded. Fuutaro began backpedaling, as the Nakano sibling approached him, clearly upset.

"I-I-" he stuttered, trying to think. The sisters faces all flashed through his head. He couldn't say he just found it on Miku's phone, Nino hated him, Ichika might… but he hadn't seen her yet so he didn't even know where she was… That only left-

"Yotsuba! Yotsuba gave it to me, sorry!" at this, Itsuki calmed down a little, huffing.

"…I see. Alright then, we've talked for long enough. Send me questions and studying recommendations when you get a chance, otherwise, you're on your own," she stated, reaching past him and opening her door, before gently shoving him out. "And so we're clear, you're only ever to text me about schoolwork, or studying. Nothing else, got it?" she asked, still slightly red. Fuutaro began nodding, having no other intentions.

"Of course, I'll only message you about schoolwork. Looking forward to it-" he began, being cut off by her slamming the door in his face.

"Well… that could've gone… worse? Better? I really don't know. I guess we can try the next one…" he sighed to himself, moving to the next door. As he reached out to knock, the door swung open, and he was greeted face to face with Yotsuba again.

Kanto…

Why was that memory coming up again?

For a brief moment, he and Yotsuba stared at each other, faces inches apart, before they both blushed, and Yotsuba started rifling through her pockets.

"Y-Yo Uesugi-kun! Yotsuba charged your phone for you, Miku had an extra battery and we just popped it in for you!" she said, finally finding her phone and handing it to him. He bowed his head slightly, opening his phone to see it full of charge.

"Thanks, Yotsuba! You're a life-saver. Meet you downstairs in five?" he asked. She beamed, nodding happily.

"Wouldn't miss it for the whole wide world! I'll be right down!" she exclaimed, before going back into her room, leaving Fuutaro with a smile on his face. A moment later, she reopened the door, before pointing at the remaining three doors. "By the way, next door is Miku, the one after is Nino, and the far one is Ichika's door! Thought that might help you!" she beamed, before going back inside.

"If only they were more like her…" he mused. Truthfully, if they were all so friendly, this would've been much easier, but he'd take what he could get, he supposed.

With that, he popped open his phone, seeing that someone had also logged onto the home internet for him. How nice. He quickly began to comb various websites, looking for some specific information, before finding what he was looking for, quickly memorizing a few lines, and bracing himself once more.

He leaned in closely to the door of Mikus room, being sure to make his voice a little deeper to get the full extent.

"Nakano Miku-san, it is I, Oda the unifier! I have come to unify the Nakano clan! Please, join us downstairs, for if you are only passive to accept work, then it is just a mixed soldier!" he said, keeping his voice as gravely and yet firm as possible. After a few quiet, tense moments, he saw the door handle turn ever so slowly, and a pair of curious, full eyes looked up at him.

"…what?" Miku breathed. Fuutaro grinned internally. She seemed to be taking the bait.

"Ah, appears the maiden! Not unlike my beautifulNōhime, you must please descend from the heavens above, and join us in our unification of Japan!" Fuutaro leaned in further to the character, letting his voice carry a bit more. At the comparison to Nōhime, wife of Oda Nobunaga, Miku flushed a deep red, unable to speak briefly. Seeing her at a lack of words, Fuutaro grinned externally, dropping the act.

"So, Miku? Would you like to join us downstairs and study? If it makes you feel any better, we can start today by previewing Japanese Warlords of the Sengoku Era, not that I know why that'd make you more excited or anything but-" he trailed off, taking a glance at her. He could almost see stars in her eyes.

Lips pursed together, cheeks slightly red, Miku nodded fervently at him, a bit of steam coming off the top of her head.

"Hook, line and sinker, that's another one!" Fuutaro internally cheered. Luckily for him, he was able to keep a calm exterior for the most part, and simply smiled, nodding to Miku.

"Alright then, I'll see you downstairs in five, that sound good to you?"

"…Y-Yes," Miku spoke, slowly retreating to her room. As soon as she faded out of sight, Fuutaro pumped his fist into the air, feeling a rush of happiness. He was doing it! He was actually doing it!

Unbeknownst to him, inside the room Miku was acting like a giddy schoolgirl. This guy… was he actually interested in the same things as her? It had been her secret fantasy to live out one of her warlord dating sims, so to be wooed in such a way was making her emotions throb a bit. She could almost see the options for Sengoku Hunnies 3 below Uesugi-san as he spoke with her, though the last option would be a bit lewd-

At this thought, Miku's eyes widened, and she threw herself on her bed, squealing a bit into her pillow. The Sengotaku truly had a weak point, a strong one at that.

Outside, Fuutaro walked up to the last door, skipping the fourth that was apparently Nino's room. She would hopefully still be downstairs, and god only knew he didn't want to accidentally go into her room for one reason or another.

Now outside Ichika's door, Fuutaro raised a hand and formed it into a fist, getting ready to get his last student to come downstairs. As he knocked though, he noticed a bit too late that the door was cracked slightly open, and actually swung open almost fully at his knocking. He was immediately hit with the smell of body odor, and could see piles upon piles of clothing, from skirts to shirts, to… intimates…

He blushed.

"A-Ahem, Ichika? Ichika are you in here?" He asked, slowly walking into the room. After taking three steps into the room though, he suddenly heard the door close behind him, and felt himself get pushed onto the bed.

"E-Eh!?" he cried out, landing on the soft sheets. He turned around to see Ichika, fully covered with a blanket from head to toe, looking like a snowman grinning at him.

"Oh my, it seems like I caught a pervert entering my room~" she teased, making him flush red, realizing the position he was in.

"W-Wait, Ichika! I was just trying to get you to-" he began, being cut off by her next words, and laughter.

"Oh relax, Uesugi-kun. I was just teasing, I know you wouldn't do something like that. Nice performance for Miku-chan earlier by the way, that was well done," Ichika said, taking a few steps closer and laughing. Fuutaro flushed to his hairline, and cleared his throat, sitting up on her bed.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, that performance was great, from the lack of a response, I'm guessing she agreed to go downstairs to study?" Fuutaro nodded. "Good for you then, I'm proud of you Uesugi-kun," she sung, emphasizing every syllable. Fuutaro flushed again, brushing himself off and quickly getting off the bed.

"A-Anyways. Are you going to join your sisters as well then? Studying for classes is important, you know," Fuutaro fumbled, trying to change the subject. Surprisingly, at this Ichika did stop teasing him, and her expression actually dropped a little, looking at the messy piles of clothes in her room.

"Right, studying is important. And what would you think of someone that had goals in life, outside of studying for classes?" she asked, tone of voice suddenly becoming serious. Fuutaro tilted his head at her, confused. He almost spoke out immediately, about the idiocy of trying to succeed at something not related to school, especially at their age, but then he caught a glance at her expression and well…

He thought more on it. He didn't want a repeat of the Itsuki incident, after all, and whatever was on her mind, Ichika seemed to care very much for it. He allowed himself to think more on his past, more on his family, trying to find someone who's situation might be relatable with Ichika. As he combed through, he finally thought of someone.

"My father is extremely dumb," he began, getting her attention, "from what we've heard, he failed most of his classes in high school, and almost got kicked out if not for the help he got from a friend of his, barely managing to pass and graduate. He's one of the dumbest people that I know, and has gotten our family into a pretty sizable debt. He regularly pisses me off, is a bad influence for my younger sister, and I'd never want to introduce anyone to him, because I know he'd do his best to embarrass me."

Ichika started to wonder if he was projecting a little bit.

"That being said. He works hard, and he truly does care a lot for myself and my sister. He does the best he can, being a single parent, that lost their other half at a young age. While I know he'd do his best to embarrass me, I also know that he has my back no matter what, and that he always tries to fix his mistakes. I know that he's happy with what he does, and that's enough for him. So I guess to answer your question, I think studying for classes is important, depending on what you want to do in life. I… don't know what I want to do yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll need good grades wherever I go. Because of that, I try my best, so that I can hopefully get into a good college. Even if you have life aspirations that don't involve college… you should still try your best to pass those classes, to graduate high school, right?"

At this, Ichika slowly began to nod. She was channeling every ounce of her energy to keep her emotions under check, but… this guy was sincerely trying to help. In her life of having four sisters and a distant father, constantly moving schools, they really only ever had each other, outside of the family butler. So it was a rarity for her to get advice of any kind from someone that seemed to genuinely care about how she did.

This Fuutaro guy wasn't half bad. At this thought, Ichika smiled to herself slightly, emotions set.

"Ne, Fuutaro-kun. You're a lot better at speaking to girls than you seem," Ichika teased, getting an embarrassed expression from Fuutaro.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just trying to be a good tutor, right?" he said, scratching his head. "Also what's with the name change? We only just met today." Ichika laughed, getting up from the bed.

"Oh don't you worry about it, Fuutaro-kun~" she laughed, looking to her messy desk. She couldn't remember the last time she'd used it to study, but her new books were stacked atop the precarious pile of old notebooks and textbooks. As she examined her table, she heard a very distinct, very familiar sound from outside the room. The distinct noise of feet stomping.

Her eyes widened. There was only two sisters that'd be making such a ruckus going up the stairs, and Itsuki shouldn't be hungry yet. Thinking quickly, she pulled Fuutaro off the bed, standing him upright, and then threw the blanket she was using onto him, wrapping him up from head to toe.

"E-Eh? What are you-Why are you-!" Fuutaro stuttered, as he got covered in a blanket. His eyes widened when he realized that Ichika… hadn't been wearing anything under that blanket…!

His face flushed the color of Itsuki's hair.

Ichika however, was distracted. If that was Nino coming up the stairs, and she caught Fuutaro in here, then he'd probably get fired by daddy right away! After that conversation they had, that wasn't something Ichika could let happen.

"Just stay quiet, don't make a noise, and you might not get caught," she whispered closely to him, as she finished up her wrapping job. Overall, she'd done a pretty good job, and the teenager was completely wrapped head to toe from the blanket. With one swift shove, she pushed him onto her bed, covering his feet with a pillow, and climbed over him into the bed next to him, pulling the covers over herself.

Just in time too, as the doors slammed open to reveal an irate Nino.

"Where is he-! Oh, it's just you Ichika. Have you seen that tutor boy?" Nino asked, realizing her sister was asleep. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the large lump on Ichika's bed though.

"Ah~? Fu-Uesugi-kun? I haven't seen him, I think I heard knocking earlier but I don't know where he might've gone," Ichika breathed, willing herself to sound as sleepy as possible. Out of her half-lidded eyes, she saw Nino slowly approach the bed, examining the large lump. At this, Ichika thought quick, and threw her bare leg over the blanket wrapped Fuutaro, who just barely managed to keep from making a noise as he felt her leg swing over him, effectively cuddling him with only a few layers of blanket between the two.

"Do you like my new Dakimakura, Nino-chan~? I won't share unless you ask please~!" she said as sultry as possible. At this Nino crossed her arms. Ichika was way too touchy with that weird blanket for it to be Fuutaro under the covers there, and there was no way she'd ever cuddle something of Ichika's-the girl constantly needed to shower. With that thought, Nino turned up her nose and started on her way out.

"I'm alright, Ichika. Well let me know if you see him alright?" she called behind her as she started her way down the stairs. After a few more tense moments of listening, Ichika breathed out a sigh of relief, getting off the bed and going to go close the door, locking it for good measure.

"You can come out now, Fuutaro-kun. I'd recommend saying you were in the bathroom upstairs, she probably didn't check it," Ichika said quietly, as Fuutaro slowly burrowed his way out of the blanket wrap. Ichika had to hold in a chuckle as she saw the boy emerge completely flushed, and sweating slightly.

"T-Thanks. You didn't have to do that, but you saved me from a pretty dangerous thing," he said, finally managing to untangle himself from the blanket. Ichika smiled to this, and nodded.

"You should probably go downstairs now then, I'll see you in a bit?" she asked, walking towards her bed.

"Will do. Also Ichika…"

"Yes?"

"…Please put on some clothes…" Fuutaro said, covering his eyes. Ichika looked down at herself and blinked, before she started turning red, neck to hairline.

"A-A-A-Ah, right!" she let out, helping guide Fuutaro to the door, which he graciously took. Once he left, she breathed a sigh of relief to herself, and then scolded herself silently.

She really hadn't intended to flash their tutor on the first day!

A short while later, all of the sisters were downstairs, with Fuutaro sitting around a table. Or at least, that was what had happened in his dreams. Instead, of the five girls, only three were sitting around the table, with one in the kitchen, refusing to join.

Itsuki had already made her arrangement with Fuutaro, so he wasn't surprised she didn't want to join the full group. It would definitely help, if the others saw her actively trying, but it was also only the first day…

Yotsuba was as energetic as ever, and every so often would yell "Fight!" or "Yosh!" and her hairbow would twitch and bounce.

Miku was extremely quiet, but was watching his every move intently, he could even see the slightest blush on her face. Looked like good ol Oda had lent a helping hand in this case.

Ichika… had made her way downstairs, and promptly passed out on the couch. Fuutaro hadn't tried waking her up yet, but he was keeping his spirits up. For now.

As for Nino… well…

"Anyone want any cookies?" she called out from the kitchen, receiving a resounding yes from her sisters, even Ichika waking up briefly to express her interest. Fuutaro took a deep breath, trying to muster every last little bit of determination and will he had.

"Alright everyone! My name is Uesugi Fuutaro, but you can call me Tutor as far as our interactions go! I have been entrusted with helping you five pass your courses at my high school, and I look forward to working with you all!" he exclaimed, trying his best to puff out his chest. After this declaration, there was a moment of silence only broken by the sound of the kitchen fan turning on, before the sibling reacted.

"Yooooshhhh! Uesugi-kun! Yotsuba will try her hardest!" Yotsuba piped up, eyes alight with fire. Next to her, Miku simply nodded, while Ichika winced, poking a delicate pinky into her ear.

"Ah… a little quieter would be good, Fuutaro-kun… I'm trying to sleep over here…mm…" Ichika breathed out, shifting herself to be more comfortable in her position. Her name slip wasn't unnoticed by the other two at the table though.

"E-Eh!? Ichika-chan is already calling Uesugi-kun by first name basis? Wow, Uesgui-kun! Omega good job~!" Yotsuba cheered, giving the double thumbs up.

Miku continued in silence, eyes poking Fuutaro with her stares.

"Y-Yes, that's a fine name too! Anyways, to start today, we'll be having some practice tests to determine what you all need to work on!" he exclaimed, bringing out three tests and placing them on the table… just as Nino placed a tray of chocolate chip cookies on the table as well.

"Cookies are done!"

"Ah hah! Cookies! Yotsuba loves some cookies!"

"…thank you, Nino."

"Oh my? These smell amazing, Nino-chan, what's your secret?"

"…H-Hey, I thought we were studying today…" Fuutaro protested, as all three sisters got distracted by Nino's cookies.

"Studying is boring, almost as boring as you. It's Saturday, let's go watch a movie or something!" Nino laughed, speaking to her sisters. Fuutaro glared, trying to hold his tongue.

"Studying may be boring, but it's useful to do, we're all students first. Come on, let's all study everyone!"

"But we're having a lunch break right now, Uesugi-kun," Yotsuba said, tilting her head. Fuutaro sighed. They hadn't even done any studying yet…

"Hey, lowlife," he heard from above him. Turning quickly, he saw Nino looking down at him, with a strangely sweet expression on her face.

"…yes, Nino?" he responded, trying his best to keep his composure.

"Try a cookie?" she asked, smiling kindly.

"…I…no thank you," he said, not trusting that smile. At this, he saw a slight twitch in her smile.

"It would be rude, you know. For you to not accept food that's offered to you while you are our guest."

"Tch." She had him there. He reached out and grabbed a cookie, tasting the warm sweetness. They were well made.

"I don't know why you were so hesitant. I wouldn't poison you or anything like that, Uesugi-san," Nino laughed, sitting down next to him. Fuutaro continued chewing, feeling his mouth get a bit dry from the delicious cookie. He looked to the other three sisters, who all were happily munching down. It was true, she wouldn't poison the batch of cookies, that'd be insane. After all, who would poison someone that was there for work?

As he chewed, she brought out a glass of water, handing it to him. He graciously took it and took a long sip, feeling the water wash the dryness out of his mouth.

"You know… we don't really need a tutor." Fuutaro felt a chill run down his spine, as he heard those words.

"What do you mean-" he began, before he started to feel himself falling, falling, falling down to the ground.

"Good night, and goodbye Uesugi-san."

The last thing he saw was the concerned expressions of the other sisters, and the devious smile of Nino's.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, as you might've noticed with chapter 1, I'm planning on taking the original story the author created, and make more… logical decisions for the characters as they progress. Because of that, there'll be moments where events play out very similarly, and further down the line, things will play out significantly differently. This is a story in which Fuutaro learns from his first interaction with Itsuki, and actually values the job, and what it could do for his family. He's not supposed to be a dumbass, just anti-social, so I figured this chapter showed what could happen if he acted like that.

Other characters will also act more in line with how the original author flushed them out in the beginning, and they'll react accordingly to the small different ways Fuutaro acts. The Ichika/Fuutaro conversation today will hold some weight, and so will the Ichika/Miku interaction of course.

Next chapter coming soon.