In the Uesugi house, Raiha woke up. Despite his best efforts, Fuutarou made just enough noise to get her attention while getting ready for school. But, Raiha didn't let him know. The only thing that she was thinking about was how different he seemed. Before, while he was always at the top of his game when it came to his grades, it was clear that he saw it as a means to an end. But here, the confident smile on his face made her happy. She looked to her side to see Isanari still dead asleep.

Raiha:[Dad never has problems with sleeping, huh? It's really early, so I'll let him sleep. From his sleep talking, it's clear he dreams of mom.]

As her thoughts were finishing, Fuutarou was ready and slowly opened the door, but he still whispered something.

Fuutarou:"I'll be going."

Raiha almost chuckled as the door closed.

Raiha:"You can do it, big bro!"

…

At the Nakano household, five doors leading to individual rooms all opened at the same time. The five sisters that came out were all surprised at their perfect timing.

Nino:"Now that's convenient."

Itsuki:"We are quintuplets after all."

Miku:"Even Ichika got up on time."

Ichika:"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Yotsuba:"Now all that's left is for all of us to run at the same speed."

Nino:"Not everyone can just the entirety of Japan in a day, Yotsuba."

Itsuki:"No one wrote the syllabus on their bodies, correct?"

Ichika:"Took a lot of self control not to."

Yotsuba pulled up her shirt.

Yotsuba:"Nothing here!"

Miku:"No strip search required."

Nino:"Thank goodness Fuu-kun's not the principal, or that's exactly what we'd have to prepare for."

Yotsuba:"Yep! He has no tact!"

Ichika:"Can't argue with that."

Itsuki:"But…"

Miku:"He's the best tutor one can ask for."

Nino:"Miku and I made some snacks yesterday, apparently they're to make sure we don't pass out mid test."

Miku:"Thank you for helping. I know I'm nowhere near your level."

Nino:"It was so you didn't spend too much time on it. Your growth is insane, you know, just a few months ago I would have stopped you out of fear of food poisoning."

Miku:"I'm still apologizing to Futuarou for that."

Yotsuba:"Let's pack some of those snacks for Fuutarou-kun. He's worked the hardest out of all of us!"

Ichika:"We don't want what happened at Nationals to happen again, huh."

Itsuki:"That's enough talking, let's go."

The five sisters got everything ready and went downstairs. Upon reaching the bottom, they saw a figure waiting for them. Usually, it was Ebata-san, but he had retired, so they were wondering who it could be. Once they got closer, they saw that it was Maruo in front of a limousine.

Nino:"Papa!?"

Maruo:"You're making good time, I thought I'd have to go up there myself and wake you up."

Itsuki:"What are you doing here, father?"

Maruo:"I'm here to take you to school."

Ichika:"Huh? Wait, you're driving?"

Maruo:"It's been some time, but I do have a license. I won't be able to drive you all week, but I figured I must, for at least today."

Yotsuba:"Alright, let's get in!"

The six of them went inside, with Maruo at the front.

Maruo:"You don't need anything to eat? We could make a quick stop if need be."

Miku:"We're fine, we packed enough. And the school should provide us with extra."

Itsuki:"We can always go to a restaurant later."

Nino:"Test, eat and sleep for five days straight. Who comes up with this stuff?"

Yotsuba:"it's all about stamina."

Ichika:"With what we've all been through, these five days will fly by."

As they were talking, Maruo couldn't stop himself from apologizing.

Maruo:"...I'm sorry I never took you to school myself."

Itsuki:"You don't need to worry about that."

Nino:"I'm just happy you're doing it now."

Miku:"It's nice to ride together like this."

Ichika:"It's certainly a rare occurrence."

Yotsuba:"Let's enjoy it!"

Maruo:"...Right."

For the first time, Maruo took his daughters to school himself. As that was happening, Fuutarou made it to the front gates where he saw Takeda, Maeda, Tsubaki and Matsui leaning against the wall.

Fuutarou:"You're here too."

Maeda, Tsubaki and Matsui began snapping their fingers in unison as takeda walked towards Fuutarou.

Takeda:"Today is the day you lose, my good friend!"

Fuutarou:"Like hell it is."

Takeda:"May the best man win."

Fuutarou:"I'll keep the second place seat open for you."

Tsubaki:"This is embarrassing. I didn't think we'd be hyping up Takeda-san like this."

Maeda:"Reminds me of my delinquent days."

Matsui:"You were part of that gang for three days before beating up the leader. I don't know if that's a proper resume."

Maeda:"Hey, I said days, not weeks."

Tsubaki:"Rito-kun didn't even join us and went ahead, Takeda-san brought him a fedora and everything."

Fuutarou then noticed a limousine approaching.

Fuutarou:"This fancy aura. No doubt it's them."

Takeda:"We'll be going ahead, then."

Fuutarou:"Right."

As they walked away still snapping their fingers, Fuutarou wondered how much they rehearsed that. After shaking his head, Fuutarou walked over to the limousine and stared intently in the window. The window opened to show the five sisters.

Nino:"You're lucky we didn't open the door."

Ichika:"You look inside fancy cars often?"

Fuutarou:"Just making sure you weren't shaking in your boots."

Fuutarou stepped back to allow the sisters to get out. He then saw Maruo come out of the driver's seat.

Fuutarou:"Well well well, you are human."

Maruo:"I expect your knowledge of the subjects is as grand as your ability to snark."

Fuutarou:"I'll do you one better, my knowledge is far greater than that."

Nino:"You can stop flirting now."

Maruo:"In any case...Take care, girls."

Itsuki:"Of course."

Maruo watched as his daughters walked inside with a smile. Right outside their class, Fuutarou turned around one last time.

Fuutarou:"No big speech this time. Just do your best."

Itsuki:"Short and sweet."

Yotsuba:"We'll pass with flying colors!"

Miku:"We'll make you proud."

Nino:"You better be ready to pick your jaw off the floor once you see our scores."

Ichika:"We won't let your efforts go to waste."

With that, they entered the room and sat down. Fuutarou sat in front of the class, with Takeda nearby. He didn't look back to check on the sisters, he knew what their expressions would be. Nothing but confidence.

Fuutarou:[Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, Itsuki. I believe in you!]

"Begin!"

End of Chapter 134