In the main building, Fuutarou and Maruo saw as the figure approaching them came into full view. It was an old man with a big white beard under the guise of a classic whiteface clown with white makeup, fully covering his face, ears and neck. He also had red and orange makeup to accent his eyes and mouth. Wearing a slightly oversized costume, with a ruffled collar that had blue outlines.

Fuutarou:"I know you, you're that weird old guy."

"Nice to see you again! I hope you've gotten better at games! Life is but a single game after all!"

Fuutarou:"Weird as ever."

Maruo:"I wasn't expecting you to make yourself known so soon. I suppose you got too desperate."

Suddenly, the old man's voice became much deeper than before. Up to this point, he had sounded very bubbly, giving those a sense of happiness, but now, it was the voice of a rough old man in the middle of a bad cold.

"My, my, you're still underestimating me, even after all this time? You'd think the years would have caused those balls to finally drop."

Maruo:"There's the voice I know."

At that moment, the clown turned around.

"Here's a trick for you at home!"

Fuutarou only saw his back as he tugged on his beard with some solution that stained the floor white.

Fuutarou:"Gross."

What was left was a black beard. He then took out a soaked towel with some makeup remover. He pressed it against his face and slowly moved it up.

"My family should be in the middle of facing off against yours. I was going to wait, but Take-chan said she got impatient."

Fuutarou:"Take-chan?"

"I suppose I understand where she's coming from, I don't have much time."

With that, he finished cleaning his face and turned around.

Maruo:"How far you've fallen. You looked far better before."

The man then unzipped his costume, revealing a slightly less plump body in a suit.

"I may have gained a lot of weight and lost my hair, but I hope you can still remember me, Mi-Oh, I suppose you're Doctor Nakano now."

Fuutarou:"...Wait, he looks kind of familiar."

"You may have seen me on tv, as I was a politician until very recently."

Fuutarou:"No, that's not it. I don't care about politics. It's just that…"

Maruo:"For what reason have you shown your face to me, teacher?"

Fuutarou:"Huh?"

"Well, I suppose this boy wouldn't know my history."

The man bowed.

"My name is Noboru Monogaku."

Fuutarou:"Noboru? Where have I heard that before?"

Monogaku:"I believe you've met Take-chan?"

Fuutarou:"Ah! You don't mean...!?"

Monogaku:"But that's not all, I used to be a teacher a few decades ago. I was one of Maruo-kun's teachers in fact."

Fuutarou:[That far back?]

Monogaku:"I thank you, boy, for looking out for my worthless daughters. You've made them feel like they weren't completely worthless like their mom."

Fuutarou:"Daughters?"

Maruo:"This man...are my daughters' original father."

Fuutarou:"Ehh!?"

…

Fuutarou:"But you said "Take-chan", does that mean they really did have a sixth sister?"

Monogaku:"Not the response I expected, but no. I simply adopted her."

Fuutarou:"I...see."

Monogaku:"Same with Yae-chan, Sandy-kun and Rito-kun."

Fuutarou:"Huh!?"

Maruo:"This piece of trash is the person who left Rena all alone."

Monogaku:"And do you have any place to speak like that? Our little lawsuit should prove I already know how much you ignore those worthless clones."

Fuutarou:"Lawsuit? The one that Nino mentioned?"

Monogaku:"Correct! 100 points...Nino's the one with the stars, right? Oh, whatever."

Fuutarou:[He doesn't know their differences despite being their father?]

Monogaku:"Hear this, boy. This little man is constantly ignoring the girls he promised to take care of after their mother died. Then, in his workplace, he's been pulling a number of funds into some private project. Now, isn't that sad? I'm simply exposing this trash for what he is."

Fuutarou:"Well, I was well versed with that first one, but…"

Maruo:"What is the reason for you being here, to mock me? You must have gone senile, your flimsy excuse of a lawsuit won't win. All you're doing is wasting everyone's time."

Monogaku:"Why, that's the whole point! Whether I win or lose, that doesn't matter. All I want is for you to be dragged from your little throne. And of course, to prove I created a better family than that failure Rena."

Maruo:"Stop mentioning her name."

Monogaku:"Oh come on, are you still jealous of your teacher?"

Maruo's face continued to fill with rage.

Monogaku:"Scary! If you want to kill me in your anger, go right ahead, it's not like I have too much longer."

Fuutarou:"Huh?"

Monogaku:"After all, in a horrible twist of fate and karma, I seem to have gotten the same incurable disease that Rena had!"

Maruo:"..."

Monogaku:"As such, I only have 6 months left to live! Hahaha! Life truly is a cruel game!"

…

...

Turning back time to a time before the story of Fuutarou, no, taking it back to even before Isanari and Kotoha's story, there was a teacher in a relatively well known school. This tall teacher was in good shape, with brown, unkempt hair. He wore a dress shirt tucked into his black pants with a tie that had decorations of daisies. His looks, combined with his happy charisma and kindness to his students, he was quite popular. This man, simply known as Mr. Noboru, was also a magician for his still very young sister. Juggling these two jobs, he simply did his best every day. This earnest effort was more than enough for people to develop a crush for him, and one specific student was no exception. She would later be known as the late mother of the quintuplets, but right now, she was simply a student in love.

Rena:"Mr. Noboru, do you have a minute?"

Monogaku:"Of course, Rena-chan, what do you need?"

Rena:"I want to go out with you!"

Monogaku:"...I'm sorry?"

End of Chapter 98