The Ace is back with another update, hahahahaha! I see the first chapter has been received well by everyone who read it, and I hope I can maintain your interest the whole way! We are already making a huge move going away from canon with Fuutarou being a delinquent and his mom being alive, but what else will happen? Let's find out!

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

Looking as bored as ever, Fuutarou stopped just outside of the school premises and brought out his phone. Checking the time, it was only 7:15 in the morning and even so, he can be late to the classroom until 7:45 since their first period teacher gives a fifteen-minute limit for those who weren't able to make it before the right time.

"Wonder if the storage shed is open today? If it is, I could take a little nap on one of the mats there," he thought to himself as he continued on his way inside the school grounds.

What? As long as he had free time, it was completely within fair rights that he can spend it however he wants. Plus, it's not like their teacher was gonna ask him the reason why he got to class beyond their normal time, which is 7:30.

Why?

It's simple.

Because their first period teacher was normally too tired to even ask. He normally only has enough energy to teach the class, give an activity and then sleep off the rest of the period while the class rep collects everyone's works. Nobody complained about it though, because most of the class could spend the remaining time taking a nap as well.

One could only imagine what the guy must be going through every night to not be able last an hour and a half at the very least.

Honestly, Fuutarou could have used the bicycle that he owned to get here even faster, but that wouldn't help much in clearing his mind of his earlier frustration with his father. Going to the nearby river definitely helped because just by staring at the flowing water, it's like he was letting his own feelings run through as if they were just a burden to him. This was one of the few ways he can relieve himself of stress.

Now, he wasn't feeling as annoyed as he was earlier, but still aggravated enough for the desire to take revenge to rise. No worries though, he can easily bounce back from the embarrassment that his father put him through earlier, but he'll think about that later.

Right now, he wanted to go around the campus and stop by the storage shed next to the gym. If it's open, he can take a nap on one of the mats there until there's at least five minutes left to spare. From there, he can run towards his classroom in no time at all and be able to make it without getting in trouble!

If it's closed, well… at least he checked the place. He'll just head to his class and save him the remaining time. He can still take a nap on his own desk, only that he would have to deal with some of his noisy classmates as a result.

Anyway, he was hoping for the storage shed to be open! The athletes should already be gathering either at the field or gym and because of this, they'll be needing their equipment that were safely kept in the shed.

But, it looks like he would have to go through an unexpected occurrence very early in the morning, in the form of one particular girl.

"He's my type!"

Fuutarou's ears immediately picked up that voice and it came from his left side; he was able to hear it clearly, which meant that he was somehow involved in this, not that he cared if he was the one being referred to. However, Fuutarou didn't understand the meaning behind those words, as he was focused more on the possibility that someone was talking about him.

Shifting his gaze slightly to the side, he saw a girl with long red hair and twin butterfly clips. She also looked like she was the same age as him, but had a great figure and large breasts for a teenager.

That's not what was on his mind at the moment though, because the girl was pointing in his direction for some reason. Was she pointing at him, though?

Fuutarou turned his head to the right, trying to see if there was anybody else with him. There wasn't anybody there and the nearest student was at least ten meters away, which means that the girl was pointing to someone behind him!

He turned his head around, only to see that there was literally no one there. Well, this just got confusing. This could only mean one thing, as he switched his attention back to the redhead standing in the distance.

Okay, this girl was definitely pointing towards him.

What the hell is she trying to do, anyway?

All of a sudden, the girl fell into a deep state of embarrassment before turning her back to him, covering her reddening face with her hands. The two girls with her wasted no time and tried comforting her, but not before they sent him deep frowns as if he made her cry or something…

After seeing her turn around completely, the young man only raised an eyebrow at her in slight confusion, before simply continuing on his way around the school. Whatever this girl was trying to call him out for, he didn't know why and he sure as hell didn't want to know.

He paid no heed to those two other girls with her and how they were sending him dirty looks, simply because they're not worth his time. He also noticed that some students had ended up staring at him and the girl, most likely because she shouted something out loud that got their attention.

Again, he didn't care.

If anything, the girl brought the attention to herself by shouting like an idiot. If she was embarrassed about people looking at her, then she shouldn't have spoken in a loud voice so recklessly.

"Whatever. Not my problem."

Fuutarou shook his head, already clearing his mind of this issue. Right, right, need to get to the storage shed. Just ignore these things.

While Fuutarou walked away without a care in the world, Nino Nakano was unable to bear the embarrassment she felt and began shaking her head to try and get rid of it, but to no avail. No, it's not because she was embarrassed about being the subject of attention by the students who heard her.

It's because of what she said right in front of him.

"I can't believe I said that out loud! I'm such an idiot! What was I thinking?! I shouldn't have said that!" she shouted to herself, steam arising from her head as a sign of how hot her face had become.

Yamada and Otori were quick to approach the girl a while ago, sending her looks of concern as they began patting her back and shoulder softly to try and calm her down.

"There, there, Nakano-san…" Yamada spoke with a reassuring smile on her face before sending a glare at the departing Fuutarou, even though his back was turned and had no way of seeing it. "It's gonna be okay. We know how scary Uesugi can be, but you'll get used to it."

"He's going to think I'm weird! I don't—" Nino continued to panic until she stopped in her words, realizing just now what her newfound friend was saying. "Scary? What are you talking about?"

She sent a confused glance at both Yamada and Otori, who still looked concerned for her as if something bad had happened, but Nino didn't quite understand their dilemma.

Nothing really happened that can be considered scary. In fact, the only thing that happened was her losing her own cool and becoming flustered in that boy's presence, which was her own fault all things considered and she knew that. She shouldn't have loudly declared that he was her 'type' in such a public place, especially school.

Were they easily distressed when it comes to talking about romance, then? Hmm, it would explain Yamada's sudden panicking when she asked about her preferences in a guy, but what about Otori? She had no problem talking about what she was looking for in a guy…

Wait a second, this had nothing to do with Yamada saying the boy she saw was 'scary' just a while ago! Her two friends were comforting her for some reason and it's not because she ended up embarrassing herself, but rather because of that boy she saw.

"That's why you were hiding your face, right? You were scared of Uesugi because he's intimidating," Yamada pointed out.

Nino looked stumped upon hearing those words.

Intimidating?

That hunk who looked perfect in her eyes?

Hell no!

Not in a million years!

"What? No!" she exclaimed, all traces of her embarrassment already disappearing in favor of the confusion she felt. "I'm not scared of that guy, so why would I be? I was embarrassed, alright? Didn't you realize what I said just now? I accidentally said that he's my type right in front of him! Now he's going to think I'm some weirdo or worse!"

Nino clicked her teeth, annoyed at herself for doing such a reckless thing while she was unaware of it. Well, she couldn't be fully blamed for what happened because right at the moment where she saw Fuutarou Uesugi for the first time, her emotions started speaking for herself.

That's the reason why she announced it in front of everyone, including Fuutarou himself, which may be the very reason that ruined her chance to go for him before she can even try.

Never had she felt more frustrated with herself before because that guy was literally her greatest fantasy brought to life, and her own actions may have just ruined her chances with him!

"Wait, what…?!"

Yamada couldn't believe what she was hearing. Both her and Otori, who normally has a stoic look on her face, had widened their eyes upon hearing Nino say that Fuutarou Uesugi, of all people, was her type.

Was Nino out of her mind?

"Ugh, weren't you asking me for my own preferences in a guy a while ago? Well, there you have it! That guy I just saw fits everything!" Nino groaned and palmed her face, before listing down her next points using her fingers. "Blonde hair, looks like a delinquent, and good looks to back it all up! I bet those are just three of the good qualities about him~"

She finished with a dreamy look as her imagination started getting carried away, painting a scenario in which Fuutarou Uesugi was taking her around town like a gentleman… protecting her from perverted douches who only want to cop a feel… cornering her against a wall where they would make out like there's no tomorrow… -bleep- her -bleep- when they go -bleep- -bleep- -bleep-…

Yeah… she would definitely love that!

While Nino was distracted with her little fantasy, both Yamada and Otori looked at each other in confusion, wondering if they had heard the redhead right. They were sure that their hearing was completely fine, which made it a lot harder for them to believe what Nino just told them.

"Y-You can't be serious, Nakano-san… t-that guy is your type…?" Yamada stuttered, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

Snapping out of her imagination that was starting to go south, Nino nodded eagerly.

"Yep! Something wrong with that?"

Welp.

She was serious.

"This changes everything, then… how can I tell her that being near Uesugi is anything but good?"

Yamada pursed her lips together, wondering how she was going to say her next words without ticking Nino off. From the looks of it, she was someone who had a short fuse and can easily get annoyed. If she tells Nino to stop what she's planning without a good reason, it might only cause her to go through with it nonetheless.

Maybe she can play it off as a hypothetical question and tell her the consequences of being with Fuutarou Uesugi as 'possible results'?

Well, it's certainly better than nothing.

"Nakano-san… it may not be a good idea to continue on with this."

Nino raised an eyebrow at Yamada's words. "Huh? You're asking me to just give up when I didn't even do anything yet?"

This time, it was Otori who spoke. Unlike her friend, she didn't waste time beating around the bush and had no problem telling Nino what she needs to hear.

"That's not what Yamada-san meant, Nakano-san. That boy you just saw, Uesugi Fuutarou-san, he's not someone you'd want to associate with."

After hearing Otori's statement, Nino began to frown, feeling that there's more to this and she was being thrown out of the loop. Is there something wrong with Fuutarou? What's wrong with getting to know someone? Isn't that how relationships form?

"Why's that? Is there something I'm missing here?"

Yamada began to speak once more and almost hesitated again out of nervousness, but followed Otori's example in the end.

"It's just that… Uesugi doesn't care about anyone and if he thinks you're in his way, he'll beat you up and walk away without even looking back."

Instead of looking pissed, Nino actually felt amused with Yamada's words and began to chuckle. While she may be attracted to boys who act like delinquents, Nino wasn't a complete idiot to fall for a scumbag who is considered the trash of society. From what she saw earlier with Fuutarou Uesugi, he acted nothing like those people even though he looked like it.

That was enough for Nino to feel assured.

"Really? He doesn't seem like it. If anything, he looks like someone who can't hit a girl even if his life depended on it. I want to see what he's like, honestly," she explained while already thinking of how to approach the guy, assuming he doesn't think she's weird, that is…

"You don't understand, Nakano-san, but it's probably because you're still new around here. Did you see the people around who were staring at you two earlier?" Yamada argued calmly, wanting Nino to see what might happen if she kept on with this.

"How would I be able to see them when I was embarrassed? I literally covered my face a while ago, in case you two forgot?" Nino deadpanned.

"Nakano-san, the point is that nobody really goes near Uesugi-san because they are too intimidated by him. It's also quite risky, because he will scare away anyone who even tries to."

Nino folded her arms under her chest. "How do you two know exactly? Did you even try approaching him yet?"

That caused both Yamada and Otori to freeze in their places, mainly because they had no viable answer to that. They have never tried going near the guy, because they were supposed to be staying their distance from him. And it was that very reason that showed they don't really know anything about Fuutarou Uesugi, except him being someone who must be avoided at all costs.

It was also at that moment that Nino knew she won, managing to prove her point to the two girls.

"W-We only avoid him because… because we've been hearing all these things about him…" Yamada muttered, somehow feeling embarrassed with herself because Nino perfectly described what she had been doing all this time.

"See? You two don't have a real clue about the guy because you haven't been doing anything but steer clear of him when he's around. Who knows? He might really be a good guy under that intimidating look you keep talking about. All you need to do is find out for yourselves," Nino explained calmly.

"It's still better than going up to him just to see what he's like. It's not worth it, Nakano-san. You don't know what might happen," Otori spoke, making one last attempt to get Nino to change her mind about this.

True, they may not really know anything about Fuutarou Uesugi aside from the stuff that they've been hearing about him, but it was still an easier thing to do than finding out themselves what he's like. Plus, it didn't really change the fact that he moves, acts, and looks like a delinquent who's looking for trouble!

"Well, too bad for you two, but I'm not gonna sit back and let that hunk remain on the market! He fits everything in my list, and I'm not letting this go," Nino remarked with a proud smile, before pointing to herself. "Besides, I'm still here, aren't I? Nothing happened to me, because I'm the one who couldn't look at him."

Yamada let out a sigh of defeat, accepting the fact that Nino was only telling the truth. They indeed didn't know anything about Fuutarou Uesugi to say anything about him because they've only been following what others were already saying about him.

However, that didn't mean she liked this one bit. It would be better if they just don't concern themselves with this issue anymore, but that would be unlikely to happen considering Nino's developing interest in him…

"Nakano-san, while we do understand what you mean now, it's still not a good idea to try and go near him… think about it," she explained.

Nino waved their worries off, before putting on a smug look to show her resolve.

"Don't worry, you two. Tell you what? If that guy does anything without my permission, I'll just kick him where it hurts the most. You guys don't need to worry about me that much! I can handle myself against one guy if the situation calls for it!"

Despite those words, both Yamada and Otori weren't feeling reassured and were still worried that something might happen with Nino because of her persistence. Well, if she was hellbent on approaching Fuutarou Uesugi, who was dubbed 'the baddest boy in Asahiyama High' by most students here, in order to learn more about him, then who were they to stop her?

They could only hope that their friend won't be regretting her decision when the time comes…

HSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHS

"I'm feeling sleepy…" the young man yawned, rubbing his eyes in an effort to stay awake.

Yeah, one side effect of watching the flowing water of the river is that it can get sleep-inducing most of the time; one minute, you're still awake and just enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and then in the next one, you're fast asleep. It's a good thing that Fuutarou already did this many times in the past, leading to him now being able to hold in the urge to sleep until he feels like it.

Either way, just watching the river really helps clearing his thoughts when he needed it, whether he falls asleep doing it or not.

The little distraction from earlier now completely forgotten, Fuutarou continued towards the gymnasium located behind the school, where the shed can also be found. He was walking a bit faster than he usually was, because he really wanted to get a bit of sleep in before class starts.

Upon reaching the gymnasium, Fuutarou started to jog towards the shed and hoped that it was open so he can take a nap comfortably on one of the mats there, only to be left thoroughly disappointed when he saw that it was still locked tight.

"Damn it," he mumbled to himself, almost feeling tempted to punch the door in order to let out his frustration but stayed his hand. Being angry won't really help his case. "This definitely isn't shaping up to be my day."

He leaned against the door and buried his face into his hands to muffle a loud groan from him. Yep, since the storage shed was closed tight, it's already obvious where he'll be taking a nap.

"Whatever… I'll have to bear with the people in class, then."

Poor guy.

Just when he had some peace and quiet earlier and his mind was now in a calm state, it'll be ruined once again when he steps foot into his classroom. This time, there's no way for him to calm himself for at least five hours, right when it's time for lunch.

Hell no, he's not going to cut class. He may act like a delinquent, but Fuutarou had morals unlike other scumbags out there! Class hours are not, in any way, his free time where he could do whatever he wanted. They may be boring almost all the time, but that's his own problem.

No, he's not going to threaten his classmates to stay quiet either. He wasn't petty to do something like that and he already swore to himself long ago to stay out of trouble. Plus, it's a pretty normal scenario for a classroom to be noisy…

"Better get going then," he mentally shrugged, deciding to just go with the flow no matter what happens.

As he began walking away from the shed, a red dodgeball had rolled towards his leg, causing him to stop in his tracks and shift his attention towards it. He was about to wonder where the ball had come from, until he heard a girl's voice from a distance. Somehow… the voice sounded familiar, as if he just heard it earlier…

"Ah, I'm sorry about that! We didn't mean for it to go that far! Can you pass it back here, please?"

He looked up and turned his head to the side, where he saw a short red-haired girl standing by the track, causing him to furrow his eyebrows in slight confusion. She was wearing a white shirt, black track pants, white running shoes, and she also had a green ribbon on her head.

However, that wasn't what confused Fuutarou at that moment.

Didn't he see this girl not long ago? At the school grounds earlier, right? She was calling him out for some reason that he didn't know. She was wearing a completely different uniform too, along with a skirt and not track pants. Did she get here before he did and changed her clothes? Also, did she just get a haircut out of nowhere?

Eh, it's not his problem.

With his hands still in his pockets, Fuutarou decided to just get this over with by sending the ball into the air with his feet, and then delivering it towards the red-haired girl with a spinning kick. Whether it was through his own skill or dumb luck, the speed that the ball took wasn't too fast and she was able to catch it perfectly!

To her credit, the girl must be pretty athletic and strong if she can catch a dodgeball like that.

A big smile took over the girl's face as she stared at him in amazement, with stars appearing in her eyes. Fuutarou's expression remained the same but on the inside, he was a bit surprised. This girl wasn't afraid of him like how pretty much everyone normally is?

"Wow, you're pretty good if you can do that without using your hands! You want to play with us for a bit? Maybe you can help us beat the team we're playing against! With your help, I'm sure we can win! What do you say?!"

The girl smiled brightly as she gave him the peace sign, while Fuutarou only raised an eyebrow at her. He didn't answer at first, instead focusing his attention to the girl herself. She's the girl whom he saw earlier, right? That's why she doesn't look scared of him unlike most of the students here.

Wait, was this the reason why she was pointing at him earlier? She just wanted him to come play dodgeball with her?

How anticlimactic.

Fortunately for him, he won't need to give an answer to anything, because a young woman with dark skin and wearing a red tracksuit came just in time to intervene in their ongoing conversation.

"Nakano-san, no! Don't invite him!" Eba Uehara quickly said out of panic, grabbing the redhead by the shoulders and surprising her, before she quickly sent the young man an embarrassed smile. "Hehe, sorry about that, Fuutarou. She's new around here, so she doesn't know. I'll catch ya later!"

The young man didn't show any kind of reaction as a response to that, although he did shift his gaze towards the red-haired girl when he heard her name, as if he heard it before.

Eba turned her attention back to the girl. "Come on, Nakano-san, everyone's waiting for you! Heh, you really didn't have to throw the ball so hard, you know?"

"Huh? W-Wait—!"

The girl didn't get any chance to continue in her statement, because Eba was already pulling her back towards the middle of the entire track, where the athletes were all gathered.

Fuutarou only stared at the retreating pair with a blank look before turning around and continuing on his way, satisfied with what he found out.

So, the girl he encountered was a new student around here… it would explain why she was asking him to join them in their game, although he didn't get why she was pointing at him earlier at the school grounds. Besides, moments later, she turned her back on him for some reason and then the two girls nearby approached her after sending him dirty looks.

Hmm, could they have told the girl about him and his reputation at that moment?

No, if those two girls told her about him, then she wouldn't have asked him to join them in their little game just now.

"…Stop thinking about it, it's not important."

Fuutarou shook his head while clicking his teeth in annoyance. He went off-topic there, which wasn't supposed to happen. These things held no relevance whatsoever.

Yeah, you know what? Trying to figure this out is just a waste of time. It's not like he'll be meeting that girl again after she figures out who she is. She'll stay out of his way, he'll be left to his own, and all will be well again. No pointing at him, no inviting him to play, nothing.

And so, his attention was then directed to what he heard from Eba when she was addressing the girl just now. It was something that caught his interest because it sounded familiar for some reason.

"Nakano… Where did I hear that before…?"

Her name was 'Nakano'? If his memory served him correct, his old man mentioned that name before when he was retelling stories of his days in high school. Something about an old friend named Maruo who was like family? He couldn't really remember more about it because he didn't bother listening to his old man telling boring stories.

He sure as hell didn't want to waste time listening, either.

Then again, it doesn't matter in the end. Nakano will stay away from him when she learns who he is from Eba herself, and he won't have to deal with her anymore.

But little did he know that it was just beginning.

HSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHS

"One bottle of iced tea, please."

Fuutarou told the cafeteria lady while handing over the payment for his drink. Within a few seconds, she went towards the nearby freezer and got his drink before throwing it towards Fuutarou, who caught it just as it was about to hit him in the face.

This drew various 'ooohhhs' from the people who were next in line out of amazement, but he simply ignored them and gave the cafeteria lady a finger salute before walking off in search of an empty table.

Yeah, believe it or not, he was on good terms with that lady, whose name was Mako.

Mako actually lived in the same neighborhood as him, and was a regular in his family's bakery. She knew exactly how he acted in school because interesting things happened in the cafeteria everyday but instead of telling on him, she just stayed out of it and let things run their course as they are.

For that, he saw her as someone he can respect, even if she was a smoker like his damn old man.

Right now, Fuutarou was focused on finding an empty table for himself. While he was walking, many students were sending glances at him, either out of contempt, fear, disgust, admiration, or lust.

Yep.

You heard it right.

As hard as it is to believe and contrary to what everyone else thinks, there were actually a few girls who had a crush on him for being a 'bad boy' in their standards. It didn't help that he had good looks as well, resulting in some females to start lusting over him in their perverted fantasies.

Good thing most of the girls in this school weren't like that and only a few were.

Fuutarou eventually found a table near the water dispenser and luckily for him, it was only a two-seater. This is good because through this, anyone who tries to sit across him will be receiving a death stare exclusively from him, especially if they sit without his permission.

He brought out his bento and set it down on the table along with his iced tea before taking his seat. Just as he could unwrap his lunch, however, an unexpected occurrence had then taken place.

"Uhm… excuse me."

Hearing the voice of a girl who was literally just beside him, Fuutarou turned his head to face her already with the intention of telling her to leave and go somewhere else since he thought it was simply another 'fangirl' who wanted to eat with him.

Sometimes, he wanted to spread rumors of himself around the school in order to ruin his own reputation more and cause everyone to completely avoid him, but he wasn't desperate like that. Plus, that would only be a hassle to deal with should his parents find out.

However, his thoughts were quick to be proven wrong when a familiar face met his gaze once again, which actually caused him to raise an eyebrow ever so slightly, because he saw her again.

Long red hair, the same blue eyes, and the same black uniform. The only things different about were the missing sweater that she was supposed to have, the two star clips on her hair instead of the ribbon or butterfly clips, and the defining ahoge on top of her head.

While Fuutarou was left confused at the girl's appearance before him, her cheeks had turned red the moment she saw his face, most likely because of how handsome he looked up close.

Despite feeling flustered that she was in the presence of a handsome boy, the girl continued to speak in an embarrassed tone, although she was unable to look into his eyes and her gaze fell to the lunch tray that she was holding in her hands instead.

"M-May I s-s-sit here with you…?"

So, he has met Nino and Yotsuba, although he thinks that they're the same person. That's gotta be confusing, but they are quintuplets, lol. Nino is already planning to make a move on him, no surprise there, and it looks like she's not letting anyone stop her! Other than that, Eba seems to know Fuutarou since she call him by his name nonchalantly... either that or he just didn't care, but we'll see. Fuutarou is also good at physical activities, something that Canon Fuu can never do, and unless you noticed it from last chapter, he showed it a bit when he met Yotsuba in this one. To finish it off, he has now met his future wife but their interaction is saved for the next chapter. Well, I guess we'll have to wait for the next one then!

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

-Lance