And we are back to our daily dose of fluff! Last chapter, it was basically about Miku making up her mind regarding what she should do regarding Fuutarou, as well as Itsuki and Yotsuba sharing a touching moment with our boy. What's gonna happen for this one? I'm already excited to find out! As always, guys, if you liked this fic and want to see more, please don't hesitate to add this fic to your list of favorites/follows and come back everyday at the same time for a new chapter! It helps me out a lot because we are now inching even CLOSER to the 400 mark, with only four favorites left! Nothing will stop me from taking fluff to the very top, you hear me?! GOTOUBUN FLUFF WILL REIGN SUPREME!
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Disclaimer: I don't own the Quintessential Quintuplets, or any of its characters...
While Fuutarou focused his attention on his students' homework, Yotsuba and Itsuki were left on their own to do what they wanted. They were confused with what they should do now that their tutoring session was over and Fuutarou looked busy with their work, until the solution to that came in the form of Nino who walked out of the kitchen while holding a plate of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.
"I made cookies, everyone! Come on, let's all dig in while they're still warm!" she exclaimed happily, which easily got the attention of her sisters.
Itsuki's eyes shined with joy, as she rushed over towards the second quint with a hungry look on her face. "You made cookies?! Oh, oh, let me have some, Nino!" she exclaimed, quickly grabbing two cookies and began munching on one.
"I want some too! I'm feeling hungry after all that studying!"
Yotsuba took off like a rocket and in less than a second, she was already by Nino's side with clear excitement in her voice. But unlike Itsuki, she didn't take a snack until after Nino placed them down on the table.
Fuutarou glanced at them for a moment, before he remained quiet and leaned back against the couch, keeping his full attention directed to Itsuki and Yotsuba's homework. Hey, he was only a temporary guest in this place, right? He'll let the girls do what they want, while he'll stay where he is since the tutoring session was already over. Besides, he'll be leaving once he finishes with his current task and then it's off to buying pizza for Raiha and his old man.
He was still hoping that there was a pizza place along the way home, though…
"They're delicious, Nino! I love them!" Yotsuba breathed out with the biggest smile that she showed today, savoring the taste of the cookie that she tasted.
"So tasty~ I want more!" Itsuki almost wanted to cry out of happiness after eating the two cookies that she had, before quickly grabbing another pair to munch on.
Nino folded her arms and gave her sisters a smug look. Even though she always gets compliments like this from them practically everyday, it still felt great to hear them. Of course, cooking was her best talent and it only added to her pride that the food she makes was delicious.
"Heh, I still have another batch in the oven, so knock yourselves out! Especially you, Itsuki!"
Not long after the second quint's earlier announcement, Miku stepped out of her room and headed downstairs. From the way she rubbed her eyes, it could likely mean that she just woke up from a nap but nonetheless, she joined her sisters in eating their afternoon snack. While it was frustrating for her that Nino was the only one among all of them who can cook so splendidly well, it didn't take away anything from the fact that anything she makes would end up being delicious.
"Miku, where's Ichika?" Yotsuba asked the third quint, raising an eyebrow at the missing presence of their eldest sister.
Miku shrugged, slowly chewing on a cookie before glancing upstairs for a brief moment to see if Ichika was there. "I don't know, she didn't come out of her room," she spoke, turning back towards her sister upon realizing her sister wasn't going to show up.
"She must be asleep then," Itsuki suggested, since it was the only thing that Ichika would do while in her room. Well, it's either that, or make a huge mess with her belongings.
"Eh, let her if she doesn't want to wake up. We'll just save some for her then!" Nino said nonchalantly, finding this situation to be quite normal. However, her expression then turned sour when she noticed that Fuutarou didn't even bat an eye at her nor the cookies she baked, despite just sitting there looking at her sisters' homework. "Oi, are you deaf or something? I didn't bake these cookies for you to ignore them!"
"Thank you for being thoughtful, but I'm completely fine. I'm just a temporary guest in this place and I am leaving once I'm done with these, since our tutoring session is already done for the day. Please don't mind me and continue on," he answered while waving his hand lazily.
"Oh, how sweet, except that I don't care about what you say," Nino grabbed the plate of cookies and walked over towards the young man, handing it in front of him with a serious frown on her features. "Take one already."
Fuutarou internally shifted his attention towards Nino without taking his eyes off his students' homework. He wanted to groan in frustration right now, because he already knew that this girl won't let him be unless he agrees with what she wanted. He wasn't in the mood to argue, nor did he want to keep this up for long.
That's not even counting the fact that Miku was here again, which means he has to be careful! Come on, it's just until he's finished with checking Itsuki and Yotsuba's homework! Once he's done, he can finally go home and he won't have to worry about Miku until tomorrow!
"You're not going to stop bothering me if I don't?"
"Damn straight," Nino replied, her frown deepening as she kept her gaze on him even though he wasn't looking at her.
Surprisingly, Fuutarou did glance at Nino for a few moments with a blank look before shrugging his shoulders in defeat. If eating a damn cookie is all it's gonna take for Nino to leave him and by extension, Miku, then so be it! Hey, on the bright side, he'd get to have another taste of Kami-sama's delicious cooking!
Wait a minute, if that's the case, then what was he even complaining about in the first place?
"Fine, then."
He took one cookie and simply popped it into his mouth due to its small size, as Nino stood back and with a smug look on her face. While this was happening, Itsuki had snuck up behind her to take more cookies from the plate she was holding and moved away immediately before her presence could be noticed.
"Well? How does it taste?" Nino asked, her smug grin becoming wider as soon as she noticed he was done eating and went back to looking over her sisters' homework.
He sighed and spoke in a tired voice, while hoping to himself that Nino would stop talking to him after this, because Miku will definitely notice his actions and he'll be screwed for real!
"You're seriously going to ask me that? It tastes good, obviously."
"And that's all you have to say?"
Fuutarou sent her a little smirk that went extremely well with his next words. "What, you want me to get on my knees and praise you? I can do that right now, if you wish."
Nino blanched, as she got reminded of the several times that this young man knelt before her without hesitation and praised her like she was some kind of goddess. Okay, while the idea of it was flattering, it was also too much! She ended up as the one getting embarrassed every time it happened instead of him! Wasn't he even at the least embarrassed from saying something like that?! And now he's still saying that even though her sisters were literally there with them?!
"N-Never mind," she quickly sputtered with a blush, before shaking her head to get rid of it. She then placed the plate of cookies back on the table, before looking at him slowly. Nino struggled to do so, still feeling shaken from his words because she was clearly imagining the scenario if it happened. "A-Anyway, there's more where these came from, so… h-help yourself, alright?"
He closed his eyes and nodded his head in a sarcastic manner, before focusing entirely on Yotsuba and Itsuki's work. "Yes, I got it already. Now would you please let me finish reviewing your sisters' homework? I want this to be done with this because I still have something to do before going home."
"Ugh, fine…" Nino pouted at his rude response before it quickly disappeared as soon as she faced her sisters. "I'm checking on the next batch, alright? Cookies are just there on the table, so help yourselves," she pointed to the plate behind her, before continuing on her way to kitchen.
With that, Itsuki and Yotsuba immediately sat around the table and simply enjoyed themselves with Nino's home-baked cookies. This left Miku in her place, who finished eating the cookie she had in her hand just now, mainly because her attention was directed somewhere, or rather, someone else.
In a move that surprised Fuutarou and her sisters, Miku walked over towards the young man and sat directly beside him, forcing him to do his best in keeping his attention completely directed towards his students' homework, because he's definitely screwed if he doesn't get it together! Itsuki and Yotsuba turned towards her for a brief moment, before thinking to themselves that their sister just wanted to talk to their tutor, so they simply let her be and focused on their own little world.
Wow, you two are just going to leave him like that? Way to make things harder for your soulmate…
"Fuutarou," said Miku, as she reached over to take another cookie from the plate on the table and munched on it quietly.
The young man took a deep breath to himself and continued to keep his attention on the sheets of paper in his hands. "What is it, Miku?"
"Did I do something to you?" she spoke as bluntly as possible, keeping her full attention to her snack for now, which gave Fuutarou the chance to look at her without suffering the consequences. Hopefully, he'd be able to get through this!
He already went through four different encounters with his soulmates, experiencing the shock with all of them that by the end of it, the electric sensation didn't hurt him anymore. A shock was pretty much nothing to him now.
But avoiding the shock? That's a different story.
Fuutarou shook his head, turning his gaze back to Itsuki and Yotsuba's homework just in case. There's no way he can be assured that Miku wouldn't look at him, and she might catch him by surprise at any moment! All of his hard work to avoid her gaze would be for nothing if that happens!
"No, you didn't. What are you trying to imply?"
"Hm… do you dislike me, then?" Miku asked, deflecting his question with another one of her own.
Now that got him to widen his eyes slightly in surprise, to the point that he almost looked back towards her despite the risk of initiating the shock between them. Luckily for him, Fuutarou managed to stop himself before he could fully turn around, and then taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"Why would I do that? Where is this coming from?" he asked, limiting himself to a confused expression while he continued to check the girls' homework. Don't worry, he was already done with Itsuki's, and Yotsuba's work was left! Once he's finished with this, he can finally leave and he won't have to deal with Miku any longer!
"Nothing big. I just noticed that you have no problem looking at my sisters but for some reason, you can't do the same with me," Miku revealed nonchalantly, which caused Fuutarou to pale just as the girl finally looked up at him with a deep frown. "You know, if there's something on my face that you can't bear to look at, just tell me."
The young man sighed, seeing that he was already screwed now that Miku caught on to his act. It just had to be this way, huh? Well, the only thing he can do at this point was to keep it up as much as he can! Even if Miku did figure out what he's trying to do, it's not going to lead to anything if he doesn't confirm it.
He's got nothing to lose… right?
"No, it's not that, I assure you. I'm simply trying to focus on checking your sisters' homework to see if they answered everything correctly."
"Well, can't you even look at me for a second then?" she pouted, although that action only made her look cuter for some reason.
Fuutarou shook his head, while internally wishing that there was another way to resolve this. "I have no problem doing such a thing, but I really want this to get this over with since I still have somewhere to go to after this. My family expects me to arrive before dinner as well, which further cuts my time short and rendering unable to comply with unnecessary things such as this. Are those enough reasons for you?"
Miku puffed her cheeks even more, causing her pout to look bigger than it already was. "Is it really because of that? I doubt it. Just tell me if you don't want me around or something."
"You are taking this out of proportion. If I didn't want you around, I wouldn't go through the trouble of introducing myself to you."
The pout on her face slowly disappeared after those words, because what he said made a lot of sense now that she thought about it, but it did nothing to remove the frown that remained on her features.
"You didn't even look at me the whole time."
He shook his head again, while also sneaking a glance at his two students. Much to his extreme relief, they were still distracted with whatever they were talking about, and it didn't seem like they could hear what he and Miku were saying. Still, he should keep his voice low for both their sake…
"I did. You simply had your attention away from me and therefore, you weren't able see."
Those words made sense as well and it would explain why their eyes never met, but she needed to make sure. If that was the case, then it's just plain, horrible luck that they haven't faced each other until now, which is rather pitiful to think about.
"But when I look at you, you always have your attention somewhere else."
He raised an eyebrow for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders, as he truly had no answer for that. He could either say it's just by coincidence, but the chances of that succeeding are as thin as the characters from Code Geass. Time to change tactics then.
"Is that so? I suppose that makes us even, don't you think?"
Miku could already guess where this was going, and she didn't look pleased with how this turned out. "You're not going to look at me at all?" she asked one more time, preparing herself for eventual disappointment.
"I apologize, but like I said, I have to finish this as soon as possible. I still have to go somewhere before heading home, and my sister is expecting me to arrive in time for dinner. If this was any other day, I'd be able to speak with you on equal grounds as I have the time," he explained in a sympathetic voice.
"Hmph," Miku folded her arms and looked away with a pout, but made no move to get away from him.
Well, to be honest, she could just grab Fuutarou's shoulders and force him to turn towards her, but that would make her look desperate, and she didn't want that. She may be trying to figure out what exactly is the reason why he can't look at her, but it didn't mean that she'd go through all lengths to make sure it happens.
While the two were busy arguing, they weren't able to notice that Nino was already back from the kitchen and brought over the second batch of cookies to the coffee table just now. The sight of her sister and Fuutarou seemingly at odds with one another immediately got her attention, as she quickly marched over towards the two with a small glare taking her features.
"What the hell's going on between you two? What are you arguing about?" she asked, alternating her gaze between Miku and Fuutarou for a few moments until the latter chose to speak up.
"It's nothing, Nino."
"You think you can fool me with that? Tell me the truth."
Nino's glare hardened at the two of them, to the point that Fuutarou felt intimidated for a bit until he turned his attention back to the sheets of paper in his grasp. Hey, he wasn't starting the argument, right? The only thing he's been doing ever since their tutoring session was check on his students' homework, and that was it.
Meanwhile, Miku showed no fear even in the face of her sister's angry look, and only gave Nino a blank expression that rivalled Nino's. Neither quint was willing to back down, while Fuutarou was smart enough to ignore them because it would definitely get worse if he was somehow involved.
"You're imagining things," Miku narrowed her eyes at her older sister, before releasing a deep sigh. Great, now she was feeling somehow tired from the argument she just had with Fuutarou and now she needed something to help her. She then stood up, before closing her eyes in an attempt to calm herself. "I'm getting a drink."
With that, Miku left Nino and Fuutarou to themselves and headed towards the kitchen to quench her thirst. As she was walking away, Yotsuba and Itsuki stopped their ongoing discussion once they saw the third quint walking away with a gloomy look on her face, which immediately got their attention and forced the two to turn towards her.
Well… it seems that he won again and managed to avoid Miku… but how long will his it last?
Well, that attempt by Miku didn't go quite as planned, because Fuutarou is still able to resist looking at her! Oh, but we know how Miku works, don't we? This won't be the last time she tries to make him look at her, especially now when she learned more about what he's up to! He's not avoiding her because he doesn't like her, but rather because of something else! Hmm, I wonder what that is... :) Other than that, we also saw Nino making them cookies and obviously, our boy loved them but he can't exactly say much while her other sisters were there. I mean, who wouldn't love Nino's cooking? Hehe. Anyway, will his luck continue next chapter? Will he finally give in to the call of Mikuism? Will something else happen? So many possibilities! See ya tomorrow!
Goodbye... and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance
