WOW! ARE WE REALLY ABOUT TO BEAT FIVE EQUAL ANGELS IN FAVORITES?! THIS FIC HAS COME A LONG WAY AFTER ONLY ONE DAMN MONTH! Yeah, everyone, this story has pretty much tied Five Equal Angels in number of favorites and is inching closer to surpassing it in number of followers. For that, I have to thank all of my readers once again for their continued support because you are the main backbone of my motivation to continue writing this fanfic guys. Please keep supporting me, and in return, I will give you fluff! Remember guys, if you liked this fic and want to see more, please do not hesitate to add this story to your list of favorites/follows, it really helps a lot and because we are constantly looking forward to taking this to the top! GOTOUBUN FLUFF WILL RULE!

Last chapter was Ribbonmania with some minor Meatbun Monster Rampage, eh? Yotsuba really did tell Itsuki that she likes Fuutarou, and now she plans to confess at the festival! Fuutarou is gonna be busy when the festival comes, because he'll have to be Nino's date and confront Yotsuba at the same time! What else is gonna happen? Let's dive into this chapter!

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

Three of the Nakano quintuplets were sitting at the same table in the cafeteria, focused on eating their lunch while things between them remained quiet, which was a sign of something that was missing from the sisters. Well, it remained quiet at least until Nino clenched her fist around her chopsticks to the point that it looked like they were going to break.

"Ugh, what is taking them so long?! Ichika and Yotsuba have never been this late to the table unless we're at home!" she seethed, almost tempted to slam her fist on the table if only it won't attract attention from other students.

Itsuki pushed her glasses up and sighed, deciding to take initiative and calm her sister down before she did something careless. "Well, Yotsuba texted us earlier that her class exceeded the dismissal time, which will obviously cause her to be late. In Ichika's case, I don't have a clue."

"Maybe she went off to talk with Uesugi? After all, she's been wanting to meet him since yesterday," Miku spoke up, putting her two cents on where their eldest sister may be at this moment.

Nino groaned, folding her arms across her chest as a deep frown appeared on her face out of frustration. "Jeez, couldn't she have done it later? Besides, he's going home with us later on, she would have been able to talk with him either way!"

"I don't see anything wrong with Ichika wanting to speak with Uesugi-kun as soon as possible… in fact, I can quite understand why she chose to approach him now, if that is really the case," Itsuki explained, sipping on the strawberry juice that she bought before remembering something important that happened to her some hours ago. "By the way, Nino, I came across something interesting earlier in class…"

"And what is it?" Nino turned her attention towards Itsuki, retaining her frown since she still felt pissed from their two other sisters arriving late.

"My classmates have been telling me that 'I' told everyone yesterday that 'Uesugi-kun was mine'," Itsuki revealed while raising an eyebrow at the second quintuplet, and even doing quotation mark gestures with her fingers. She didn't even blush upon saying those words, showing that this was a completely serious matter which she needed an answer for.

Nino's eyes immediately widened at hearing those words from Itsuki, before quickly realizing that she was caught red-handed in her actions from yesterday. Welp, it was a good secret while it lasted…

"Shit! I'm caught! I gotta think of something, quick! What should I say?!" she shouted in her thoughts, doing her absolute best to figure out what she could say to avoid talking about her real intentions behind what she said. "How the hell did she figure it out so quickly?! I already knew those girls would start giving her the stink-eye but I didn't think Itsuki would give a shit!"

Never underestimate Itsuki's ability in being perceptive, Nino.

"At first, I thought they were just being ridiculous, but then I noticed a lot of my female classmates have been glaring at me from our first period up until the bell rang. I was about to ask them what exactly happened yesterday that involved myself saying those words because I can't recall ever saying it, until I remembered you telling all of us that you spoke with Uesugi-kun yesterday, before Yotsuba and I left with him for our tutoring session. Therefore, I believe my classmates might have mistaken you for me instead."

"Itsuki, what are you saying?"

Miku, who was listening closely into the conversation, decided to speak up because this seemed like a serious matter that could somehow affect all of them as a family if it wasn't dealt with immediately.

"Miku, I'm saying that Nino might have something to do with my classmates saying all those crazy things because she was with Uesugi-kun yesterday and even spent lunch with him, remember?" Itsuki explained, shifting her gaze from Nino to Miku.

The girl wearing headphones rubbed her chin slowly, thinking back to yesterday's events and how it could possibly connect to what Itsuki said earlier. "That does sound suspicious…"

"Alright, Nino…" Itsuki took a deep breath and turned back towards her older sister with a passive look on her face. "If you had something to do with this, then please tell us what happened."

Nino gritted her teeth and remained silent for a few seconds, as if she didn't want to say anything. Eventually, she let out a loud groan and threw her arms up in defeat. "Ugh, okay! I did say those things, but hear me out! Uesugi-kun needed help, alright?! I was really just going to talk to him, but I had to help him before that. He was being ganged up on by the girls in his class!"

Itsuki and Miku looked at each other as a sign of their confusion, before turning back towards their sister. What exactly did she mean by that? The two didn't quite get it. Fuutarou needed help, because he was getting ganged up on? By who exactly? And what were they doing to him? That was confusing to think about, for it wasn't enough. They needed a lot more context than what they heard, forcing Miku to speak up.

"'Ganged up on'? What are you talking about, Nino?"

"Urgh, he was being asked out to lunch by two girls!" she exclaimed, which surprised her sisters and got them to widen their eyes, to say the least. "When I stepped into his classroom, I saw him having trouble with those girls because they weren't giving him any other choice. They really wanted him to eat lunch with them but he just didn't want to."

Itsuki frowned, feeling more confused than ever. Two girls asking out Fuutarou to lunch? That was something that Itsuki could never see happening, and her tutor would agree with her on that. As far as she's concerned, she's the only one among her classmates who willingly walks up to Fuutarou and speaks with him! There's never been an instance where he gets approached by someone else!

"Wait, why would they do that? They've never done such a thing before because they normally stay away from Uesugi-kun."

"I know that because if I was in their positions, I would. But guess what? They did and it's like they even forgot that they avoided him like the plague back then!" Nino huffed, while also feeling relieved that they believed her explanation. She then pointed a finger towards Itsuki in an accusing manner, which surprised the youngest among them. "You know why they did it? It's because of that rumor about you and Uesugi-kun! The same reason how I found out who he was when I wanted to tell him to stay away from you."

Itsuki blanched, knowing full-well what Nino meant when she mentioned that rumor. Yeah, that would be the perfect explanation why her classmates would suddenly gain an interest in Fuutarou, despite him being the outcast of the class in the past. Oh, shit! Miku was here too! As far as she knew, Miku wasn't aware of that rumor and now she was going to find—

"What's this rumor about Itsuki and Uesugi?" Miku asked, tilting her head curiously because this was the first time she heard of such a thing.

Too late. She was already asking.

"Seriously? You've never heard about it around here?" Nino deadpanned at her sister, as though she was asking if Miku was serious. Well, considering the kind of person her sister was, being silent and reserved all the time, it shouldn't be surprising.

Miku shook her head.

Nino sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll make it simple then. Ever since our first day here, there's a rumor going around this place that Itsuki and Uesugi-kun are dating, and now it's gotten really big to the point that girls are starting to change what they think about him! People always thought of him as some weirdo that they have to stay away from but because of that rumor, they've started making all kinds of shit about him!"

"How is it you know so much about the guy?" Miku asked.

The second quintuplet pointed to herself, as if she was emphasizing a certain thing about her. "That's because I talked to him several times already and I actually pay attention to what's been happening around! Maybe if you did the same and paid a little more attention to what's going on, you won't have to ask stupid questions like this!"

Miku just ignored her, unwilling to start an argument between them right now.

"Nino, what kind of things are they making up about Uesugi-kun? I know about the rumor regarding the two of us, but I can't understand how it would attract the attention of our female classmates. If anything, it would give the sense that Uesugi-kun is… s-seeing someone else…" Itsuki asked, making Nino turn towards her instead.

"Because they know it's just a rumor, and you two aren't really dating or anything," Nino huffed again, leaning back against her seat. "They're making up all kinds of things, like how they 'might' have been wrong about what they thought of him, how he's suddenly making some kind of impact on them because he's smart, and now they're pulling off attempts to get his attention!"

"So basically, he's popular with girls now," Miku commented.

Nino shrugged, since that was basically Fuutarou's situation now. "Pretty much. Yesterday, the two girls who were asking him out to lunch were even throwing cute looks at him like he wasn't someone they ignored back then. Instead of looking at his bad points, they talked about his good points and he was trying his best to talk his way out of it! So yeah, I decided to help him because if I didn't, he would've been ganged up on by more of them!"

"And you helped him by saying he's 'yours'?" Miku asked with a small frown, showing her doubt regarding what Nino did, and she believed that it wasn't the best possible solution to the problem.

"I couldn't think of anything else that time! I had to act quick to save his ass, and it's only a good thing we look exactly like each other! In case you didn't hear me earlier, I'll repeat it then. They weren't giving him any other choice because they really wanted him to say yes, because they're desperate to know more about him."

"You couldn't have thought of something else to help him? Don't you think that what you did only made things worse for Itsuki?"

"Miku, I'm fine with it," Itsuki said, preventing another possible argument from erupting between sisters. Both Nino and Miku turned towards her as a result, as the youngest of the quints continued in her words. "I completely understand Nino's stance on the matter. She didn't have much choice either, and… as e-embarrassing as it is, perhaps what Nino did will help out Uesugi-kun's situation and he won't be bothered by our classmates anymore."

"Don't get me wrong. I did get those girls to leave him alone, but I can sense that they're not gonna give up so easily. If anything, it'll only make them more desperate for his attention because he scored with a pretty girl like you," Nino snickered, before crossing her arms over her chest. Itsuki blushed deeply because of this, to the point that she averted her gaze to the side. "Plus, you said that your classmates were sending you dirty looks, right? That basically means that they have no plans of giving up, and they'll keep on trying to ask him out."

Now that was something that confused her.

Suppose that a popular boy who had many admirers finally gained a girlfriend, isn't it only right that the people who liked him should just give up because it's over for them?

Yeah, that's supposed to be how the harem genre works.

Itsuki threw a confused glance at her sister, while taking in all of Nino's words in case she missed something. "But didn't you say that w-we were a c-c-couple…? S-Shouldn't that be enough to tell people that Uesugi-kun is already with someone else?"

"You really expect them to give up after what I said? I know how these types of people work, Itsuki. I may have said that you and Uesugi-kun are a couple, but that doesn't mean they have to believe it. I can bet that they're not gonna think you two are official until he makes a move of his own!" Nino smirked at her sister, which only caused Itsuki to deepen her blush because she could already tell that this wasn't good for her. "Heh, that means you'd have to act like you're his girlfriend and hope for other people to buy it!"

"I-I-I don't think… s-such a thing is necessary…" Itsuki said in a quiet tone, her face becoming as red as her hair from hearing the idea of acting like she was Fuutarou's girlfriend. The only thing missing would be the steam coming out of her ears, which would definitely happen if her embarrassment continues to build up…

Nino began to laugh, clearly enjoying Itsuki's flustered state before continuing in her words. "Hey, if you can't sell the act, I'll do it myself! You don't have to go through so much embarrassment if you can't handle it, Itsuki. You just leave it to me, and I'll make sure these girls never bother you again!" she exclaimed, flashing her sister a big grin.

"Don't tell me that you like him, Nino…" Miku cut in, sending the second quint an 'are you serious' look.

Nino snorted, before flicking her hair back in a haughty manner. "Pfft, I'm just helping him and Itsuki out, so don't get the wrong idea. After all, we all know that Itsuki's the one who's crushing on that guy," she finished her statement with a teasing smirk towards Itsuki.

The girl whose face was completely red began to emit steam from her ears before squirming in her seat. "I-I told you already, I do not have a crush on Uesugi-kun…! Mmuuuu, this is not helping the situation at hand, Nino!" she said hotly, puffing her cheeks to form the biggest pout she made today.

"That's what you keep telling yourself," Nino shook her head and continued to giggle while Miku only sighed and drank some water from her glass, bracing herself for what came out of their youngest sister afterwards.

"Ninooooooo…!"

The second quint continued to laugh at Itsuki's flustered state but during that exact same moment, a familiar short-haired girl who looked exactly like them made her presence known by clearing her throat. This caught the attention of Nino, Miku, and Itsuki, who all turned their heads towards the newcomer and were met with the sight of their eldest sister holding her own food tray.

"Hey, everyone. Sorry if I'm late, I just had to take care of something important, hehe…" Ichika said while smiling out of both nervousness and embarrassment.

A short chapter, but important nonetheless! You know why? Miku now knows the rumor about Itsuki and Fuutarou, which means she's now involves in this whole thing whether she likes it or not! She looks like Itsuki, right? Just like what happened with Nino, she can also be mistakened for her sister now as well. This is gonna make things a lot more intense for the quints, don't you think? This is a problem that they'll have to face together with Fuutarou. Other than that, Nino admitted to Itsuki and Miku that she helped out Fuutarou but take note, she never told them about the bento she made. :) Hehehe, see you tomorrow guys!

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

-Lance