Welcome back to your daily dose of love! Last chapter was so wild, because Nino finally sorted out her feelings and willingly admitted to herself that she likes Fuutarou. Now she's planning to confess at the festival but before that, she has to go shopping with him first, and there's no guarantee that nothing will happen during the days before that. I suppose we'll find out what happens after her internal realization here, so let's not waste any more time! If you liked this and want to see more, please don't hesitate to add this to your list of favorites/follows because it really helps a lot with my motivation and drive to keep writing. Now let's dive into this chapter already!

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

Nino became so focused on keeping her gaze directed towards Fuutarou that she didn't notice the presence of her two sisters, who walked down the staircase after having a change of clothes. They both raised an eyebrow at Nino, who seemed to be looking down on their tutor while he was checking their homework.

"Nino?" Itsuki asked as the two walked closer towards their sister, who froze as soon as she heard the familiar voice. "Why are you looking down on Uesugi-kun like that?"

"U-Uh, j-just…just talking with Uesugi-kun about something important, that's all…!" The second quint blurted out immediately, before shaking her head in order to get rid of the blush that still remained on her face. She can't let her younger sisters catch her in the act or her plan is ruined!

Itsuki gave a small nod after hearing Nino's explanation, before her curiosity got the better of her. "Oh, I see… what is it about?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Ugh, it's about what happened earlier at school! I was just asking him how he's planning to deal with your classmates because they won't stop…!" Nino shut her eyes tightly and answered in a more aggressive tone, wanting the conversation between them to end already.

Wait, that's wrong! She shouldn't be lashing out on her sister like this. It's her fault for getting distracted to the point that she didn't notice Yotsuba and Itsuki's presence as soon as they came out of their rooms. "Stupid…" Nino cursed herself for giving in to irritation easily, before she shook her head to get her mind back on track.

"Never mind, you need something from him? Go on, I'm done talking to him, anyway…" she muttered, releasing a deep sigh in the end.

Itsuki blushed up a storm and started twiddling her fingers in a cute manner, which caused Nino to raise an eyebrow at her. What exactly is she getting nervous for? Did something happen?

"Well…"

While the two were busy talking to each other, Yotsuba was already sitting beside Fuutarou while the young man didn't seem to care at the moment. "Ne, Uesugi-san. I can lean on you like this, right? We're already done with our tutoring session, so we can do what we want, right~?" she asked, slowly letting her head fall on his shoulder like what happened earlier in the elevator.

Fuutarou took a quick glance at the girl, as if he was going to tell her to back off so he wouldn't get distracted, but he only sighed and shook his head in defeat. "Whatever, just don't make much noise. I'm almost done checking your homework, and I would like to be done with it as soon as possible."

Yep, just let her do what she wants, and she won't bother you. The more important thing here is to just focus on the task at hand. Well, as long as the girls don't distract him in any way, he'll be able to finish this and go home!

"Shishishi, don't worry! I'm going to stay quiet!" Yotsuba exclaimed, and stayed true to her word afterwards by keeping her mouth shut. Being close like this with Fuutarou was already enough for the ribbon-wearing girl, who smiled and closed her eyes for now.

Nino could only stare at Yotsuba and her actions, as she started to wonder if the fourth quint also had a crush on Fuutarou like Itsuki did. It would explain a lot of things, since she also did this earlier in the elevator and was even disappointed that she had to separate from her tutor so quickly. Wait, does she even have a crush on the guy? Or is it her usual self and she's just being clingy for some reason?

...

...

...

Hm… you know what? Forget about it. There's no use trying to figure this out right away, because this was something new. They were all aware that Itsuki had feelings for Fuutarou even if she loves to deny it, but Yotsuba was different and it just came out of nowhere. Well, even if Yotsuba did have those kinds of feelings for Fuutarou, it won't stop Nino from her plan to confess at the festival.

It's just how she works. Once she puts her attention into a particular goal, she won't stop until she achieves it!

While Nino was left in a temporary trance of sorts, Itsuki walked over towards Fuutarou's other side. She didn't sit down immediately like what her sister did, wanting to ask for his permission first. That, and her face was turning as red as her hair out of embarrassment.

"Uhm… can I sit with you as well, Uesugi-kun…? I won't bother you…" she asked timidly, her bottom lip trembling in nervousness. On one hand, she didn't want to distract the guy because he's trying to do his job as her tutor but on the other, she wanted to lean on him just like in the elevator earlier!

"Do what you want," he answered immediately, not bothering to glance at her. Again, just let her do what she wants, as long as he doesn't get distracted! It's as simple as that, really.

"Oh! W-Well…"

Itsuki was clearly surprised and because of that, she hesitated at first, before shutting her eyes tightly as if she was trying to suppress the embarrassment she felt. She then sat down directly beside the young man, before slowly letting her head fall on his shoulder. Within a few seconds, the girl was already starting to feel comfortable with her position that a smile slowly formed on her face, before slowly closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath.

Nino's eyes widened even more at seeing Itsuki doing the same without hesitation, as if these two were mirroring the other. Strange… assuming they both had feelings for Fuutarou, shouldn't they be jealous of the other or something? Well, anyway, seeing her youngest sisters act like this caused a bright idea to suddenly pop into her mind.

"Hmm, you two have been awfully close to Uesugi-kun lately, don't you think?" she teased, planting her hands on her hips in a cocky pose and making the two girls snap their eyes open as their faces exploded in embarrassment.

"W-We're already done with tutoring, Nino. We can take a rest!" Yotsuba quickly blurted out, while trying her best to suppress the red hue on her cheeks.

Itsuki took a few seconds to calm herself from her initial embarrassment, before she gave Nino the most serious look she could muster at the moment. "I-I agree, and… if Uesugi-kun says it's okay, then it's okay. That means you can't separate us from Uesugi-kun, Nino!"

Yotsuba and Itsuki took a glance at each other afterwards, before nodding at the same time. They won't let Nino have her way!

Since Fuutarou told them of his own accord that it's okay if they sit beside him like this, Nino can't possibly assert her authority and tell them to leave their tutor! Even if she tried this the other way around and told Fuutarou to get away from them, they won't let her! In short, they won't let Nino get what she wanted!

Much to their surprise, Nino only giggled and waved her hand as if she was telling them to ease their worries. Oh shit, they didn't have a good feeling about seeing the sweet smile that suddenly appeared on her face…

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to ruin your fun, but don't you think you're being too obvious? I think this is just a way for you to get up close and personal with Uesugi-kun… am I wrong?" Nino flashed them a smug grin, enjoying the reactions from her sisters that followed afterwards.

Both Yotsuba and Itsuki blushed even more as they got silenced, while Fuutarou remained as neutral as ever. It was mainly because most of his attention was directed towards the girls' homework, although he was still able to hear what Nino said as clear as daylight.

"They've worked hard today, Nino, and I acknowledge your sisters' efforts. For that, they deserve to rest," he said, while also releasing a deep sigh. He had no time for their bantering right now, not until he's fully assured that he won't have to make eye contact with Miku! The only way he can do that is if he finishes with checking his students' homework, and he can't be distracted while doing so!

"And you let them rest by leaning on you? You're looking like some kind of playboy there…" Nino argued with a smug look, while Fuutarou only responded by shaking his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about, because I'm not even in a relationship with your sisters. Anyway, could you please stop distracting me? Your sisters' proficiency in English seems to be something I need to work on for the next few days."

"Oh, really? Heh, I don't mean to brag, but my best subject is actually English!" The second quint continued to speak, obviously not giving a damn about what he said about distracting him.

Now that was something that caught his genuine interest, even though it distracted him from his work. "Is that so? That's interesting, considering Itsuki's best area is Science and Yotsuba, despite not being adept in anything that has nothing to do with sports and physical activities, shows some proficiency with Japanese," the young man stated, raising an eyebrow out of intrigue.

Yotsuba looked up at her tutor with a pout, getting him to look at her for a brief moment. "Mou, that's mean of you, Uesugi-san."

"It's what I've noticed," he shrugged in a nonchalant manner before going back to checking their papers. "But, there is no need to worry. Like what I promised the two of you earlier, I will guide you to reach graduation no matter what. All you need to do is work hard and correct the mistakes you make along the way."

His two students bore thoughtful expressions on their faces, before nodding at the same time in agreement. Meanwhile, Nino's smug grin became wider as he finished his statement, as she gave him a wink.

"Wow, after hearing that from you, it almost makes me want to join your little study group!"

Fuutarou shifted his gaze towards Nino for a moment, letting the smallest of smiles appear on his face before shaking his head in amusement.

"I wouldn't mind."

The four teenagers weren't aware of the pair of eyes watching them from the kitchen, which belonged to a pouting quint with blue headphones around her neck. When she left the couch earlier, it was only so she could drink some water, but it has already been about ten minutes since she did that and simply remained at the kitchen without any intention of returning.

Miku was too focused on the one boy who was with her sisters sitting on the couch, but it wasn't because she liked him or anything like that. Rather, it's because of one particular problem that she had with him. It's something so simple, it honestly boggled her mind that Fuutarou couldn't even do it, or he just didn't want to.

"Why can't he look at me?" she thought to herself, puffing her cheeks even more upon seeing him glance at her other sisters. "He has no problem looking at Itsuki and Yotsuba… even Nino, of all people… there's nothing wrong with me, is there?"

Miku thought back to their earlier interactions, and she couldn't think of a moment wherein she did something wrong. They've had pretty civil conversations thus far, and then she only got irritated with him when she noticed that he wasn't looking at her on purpose. He was ignoring her for some reason, and he was covering up for it when she finally noticed it.

"No… he's just making up excuses for some reason…"

Yeah, and she noticed it several times. First, it was when they were walking back home to their apartment. The moment she noticed that he wasn't looking at her, Fuutarou seemed like he was panicking for no reason until he answered a call… at least, that's what she remembered from it. Second, he was pretending to look amazed with their home earlier because he didn't even look the part. If someone was amazed or impressed with something, he'd have wide eyes or even a shocked expression, but he had none of those. All he did was look around just to avoid looking at her, which was admittedly getting into her nerves.

Normally, she wouldn't give a damn about something like this. If he didn't like her, then she didn't like him either. It's a give-and-take situation, except this was different. It's not that she disliked him and it's the same case for Fuutarou. No, if that was what happened, then they wouldn't even bother talking to each other. And yet, they've had several discussions in which Miku ended up learning more about him and became one step closer to figuring out why Itsuki or rather, all of her sisters, were all interested in him somehow.

It's just that for some reason, Fuutarou couldn't bring himself to look at her as if she's some kind of plague to be avoided at all costs. She didn't know why, but she was determined to find out. Was he mad with her or something? That can't be possible, since it was her who moved away from him after he still refused to look at her. Fuutarou remained calm the entire time, even if she was getting frustrated, so that was on her. Okay, maybe that's not the reason, so what is?

Think, think! She wasn't the smartest out of her sisters for nothing! Sure, Itsuki and Yotsuba may surpass her in that area, but she was still confident enough to figure out why a guy can't look at her! Come on, think! Why can't he look at her? What could be the reason?! It shouldn't be hard for a guy to look at a girl, especially if she wants it, right? So why can't Fuutarou do that? There's nothing wrong with her, so it could be that something's up with him, instead! But what could be the problem he's experiencing that has something to do with simply looking at her?

...

Wait a minute…

...

Oh, dear… there's no way!

...

Miku's eyes widened and her mouth hung open, before her head dropped down so that she was looking at the floor. It's not because she was thinking about something, but rather it's so she can hide her face that was starting to burn up out of embarrassment.

...

Did Fuutarou have a crush on her and he was just too shy to face her?

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...

No! That can't be! Stop thinking about that! Why would he have a crush on her?! They didn't even know much about each other and they only met a few hours ago! Other than that, if he was indeed interested in her, wouldn't he be too shy to talk to her as well? That certainly wasn't the case, because he's been calm around her ever since! He just didn't want to look at her for some reason…

Phew… it's a good thing she resolved that quickly. That would've made things complicated, because if Fuutarou liked her, it also means that she'd have to confront Itsuki about the issue. No! She didn't want to do that! Not dealing with it! It's too early for her to even think about boys!

Anyway, it looks like she'll have to dig deep even further in order to find out why Fuutarou Uesugi is either unable to or is simply avoiding having to look at her in any way. It was such a simple thing, and yet he can't even do it. Focusing on Itsuki and Yotsuba's homework? Not wanting to get distracted?

Puh-lease. That's probably the lamest excuse that she's ever heard. Looking at someone doesn't even need more than two seconds, and Fuutarou still wasn't convinced? There has to be a reason, and it's not related to having a crush or anything similar to that!

"This isn't over," she said to herself, clenching her fists as she put on a more determined look similar to Oda Nobunaga when he would order his troops around during battle. "I'll definitely make him look at me!"

She'll find out the real reason why he can't look at her or her name wasn't Miku Nakano!

This. means. WAR!

He'll continue to avoid having to look at her, while she'll find a way to leave him with no choice but to gaze at her.

The one who falters loses!

"Oh, love me Mister... oh, Mister~"

Shut up, old man. Nobody asked you to sing the theme song of Kaguya-sama.

Welp, this issue between Fuutarou and Miku has evolved into a Kaguya-sama situation. I'm sure he never intended for this to happen, but well... he left Miku with no choice. She wants to find out the reason why he can't look at her, along with making him look at her. Fuutarou will surely regret this when Miku starts making ridiculous attempts to get him to look at her, especially at school... yikes. Other than that, we are treated to more Meatbun Monster and Ribbonmania fluff, with Nino enjoying herself by teasing her sisters. Quite surprising that she didn't separate the three, but it's still good. What's gonna happen next? What will Miku do? What about the rest of the girls? See ya tomorrow!

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

-Lance