Chapter 3
It was morning, and the Uesugi family composed of Shizuku, Fuutarou and Raiha was having breakfast together. It was 7:30 a.m., so the two Uesugi children weren't late for school.
"Fuu-chan, are you looking forward to meet again Maruo-kun's daughters?", asked his mother to start a conversation.
"What makes you think that, Mom?", he responded.
"Hehe, Raiha-chan and I saw you smiling happily yesterday while you were preparing some worksheets for them. Right, Raiha-chan?"
The ponytail little girl giggled, "Onii-chan found 5 beautiful girls. When can I meet my future sisters?"
Fuutarou blushed, "Raiha, I just made friends with them! Don't think already about a future marriage of mine!"
"Ara, you're embarrassed Fuutarou? That means that you find them very cute haha.", said Shizuku to further embarass her son.
"You two are having fun, aren't you?", said a frowning Fuutarou, getting some giggles from the two of them.
After they stopped to laugh, Fuutarou was done with his breakfast and went to take his school bag to leave. "Alright, it's time that I go. See you later Mom, Raiha.", he told them while approaching the door.
"Have a nice day at school Fuutarou/Onii-chan!", they replied, to which the young man smiled and left the apartment.
Now that mother and daughter were alone, they decided to talk about his reaction to their teasing. "I rarely saw Onii-chan blush like that in the past Mom. Could it be that he likes somehow those sisters?", asked Raiha.
"Fufu, your brother is always very confident, but him too can get a little embarassed about love. About his blush, you must know that he blushed often every time he thought about a cute little girl he met in Kyoto 5 years ago."
Raiha was now very curious. "Onii-chan had a first love?!", she asked while shouting.
Her mother smiled brightly, "Yeah, she was like a childhood crush for him, but it embarrasses him a little talking about her. But if you ask him one day, he could tell you the full story."
"I will surely ask him. I've always wanted to know about Onii-chan's past before I was born.", replied a determined Raiha, making Shizuku giggle at seeing her daughter full of curiosity about her brother's past. It seems that the young man will receive a lot of questions when he returns.
After he left his house, Fuutarou reached the school's gates when a black and familiar limousine stopped near to him. The door of said limousine opened up, and five redhaired identical girls came out of it. When they exited from the vehicle, a bunny ribbon girl noticed rapidly Fuutarou. She smiled and went to greet him, "Good morning, Uesugi-san! I'm glad to see you again!"
The black haired boy smiled back, "Good morning you too Yotsuba. And even you girls."
The other 4 sisters then noticed him too, with a butterfly ribbons girl approaching him. She stopped in front of him and said, "Hello Fuutarou, I forgot to give you something before you left last time."
"Something to give me? What exactly?"
Nino took her phone from her bag and shyly gave it to him. "I-I f-forgot to g-give you my phone n-number, even i-if I said that I would have done it when y-you showed me your t-trustworth.", she told him embarrassed.
When she replied , Fuutarou remembered her words before their first tutoring session, so he smiled and took her phone, touching her hand and making her blush.
"Thank you Nino, I had forgotten about it haha. Also, thanks a lot for the cookies that you gave me. My family and I loved them.", he told her while saving her number on his smartphone.
Hearing his words made the second sister redder than before and stutter on her reply. "O-oh, I-i s-see. I'm h-happy that you f-found them delicious, Fuutarou."
Fuutarou gave back her phone, in which he saved his email address and number. Seeing that made Nino smile a little with red cheeks. But one of her sisters decided to interrupt their little interaction.
"Good morning, Uesugi-kun. It's better that we go in class now if we don't want to be late.", said the youngest sister to get his attention.
He and Nino looked at her, with him replying, "Hey Itsuki. Yeah, let's go now. You girls should do the same too. See you later for the study session." Then he started to walk with Itsuki towards the school entrance, leaving the other sisters behind.
Nino and Miku, that didn't get to greet him like Ichika, were pouting because of Itsuki's action. Nino was just giving him her number as she had promised him, and Miku wanted to talk a little with him about History. But Itsuki had to take him away like that!
"Ara ara, Itsuki-chan seemed a little jealous of you interacting like that with him, Nino.", said a giggling Ichika.
Nino frowned to her sister. "What? I told you girls that I would have given him my number at school. Also, Itsuki was jealous? I just see him as friend like her!"
"So why were you blushing while talking with him?"
The second Nakano sister blushed again and meekly answered, "W-well, I-I w-was a little e-embarassed to g-give him my number and h-he even t-thanked me f-for the cookies…"
Ichika giggled, "Fufu, someone likes Itsuki's crush I see."
Nino blushed a storm, "W-what?! W-what a-are you saying?! Fuutarou i-is not e-even my ideal type, w-why should I-I like him t-that way?!"
Her reaction to Ichika's teasing made her sisters laugh loudly, except for Miku that pouted. She was still unhappy because she couldn't chat a little with their tutor, but now she was more because the thought of Nino possibly liking him was making her jealous.
Suddenly, Yotsuba clapped her hands to get their attention. "Ok girls, we should go if don't want to be late. Shall we?", she said with her cheerful voice.
Ichika stopped to tease Nino, so the 4 sisters started walking to enter in the school. While entering, the third sister thought of a way to talk a little alone with her friend that liked the Sengoku era like her. She reflected about it and managed to find a plan, smiling genuinely when she found the way to talk with him alone.
The first period of lessons went just fine for Itsuki and Fuutarou, but during lunch break the young man decided to go eat with a friend of his named Maeda, who needed some help with his homework. A little dejected that she couldn't have lunch with her friend, Itsuki understood and went to have lunch with her sisters. Obviously they asked where their tutor was, and Itsuki explained his circumstances. They understood, even if some of them wanted him to eat with him again, and started to eat.
When the lunch time ended, everyone went back to each own classroom. Returning to his class earlier than Itsuki, Fuutarou sat to his desk and found a paper inside of it. It was from Miku and it was written: Please, meet me on the rooftop after the lessons ended. I want to talk with you alone.-Miku."
After reading that, Fuutarou was pondering about the message. Miku wanted to talk with him just the two of them? For which reason? Maybe to talk about History or something else? He was trying to find the most possible reason, considering even a love confession that he quickly forgot because it was true that he was popular, but a girl that met him just yesterday that wants to confess already? Nah, that's crazy.
Not wanting to continue to consider other reasons, he shrugged it off and decided to tell Itsuki that they'll start the tutoring session later when she comes back to their classroom, explaining why.
And in fact, Itsuki returned and sat quickly next to him. She turned then to him and asked, "Did you have a good lunch, Uesugi-kun?"
He looked back at her and smiled, "Yeah, my friend just wanted some help with an English homework, but I would have preferred to eat with you and your sisters honestly. "
Itsuki blushed, "Oh, I-I s-see. Yes, m-my sisters w-wanted to have l-lunch again with you (me too)."
"We had the same thought then haha. Oh yeah, I must tell you that our study session will start later today; Miku wants to talk with me alone after the lessons first."
When she heard that, Itsuki got shocked. Her sister wanted to talk alone with him? But why? Can't she talk with him at the Pentagon later? Unless... No… That can't be! Her sister had a crush on Fuutarou?! But that's not possible! She just met him yesterday in comparison to Itsuki that met him earlier and was the first to become his friend between the 5 sisters!
'Miku can't be already in love with Uesugi-kun! She met him only yesterday! Ahhh, I must calm down. Maybe it's not even a love confession. But the thought of him alone with Miku annoys me a little, mouu.', thought Itsuki, that was pouting at this point.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Fuutarou with a concerned look. "It's everything ok, Itsuki? ", he asked her with a worried tone.
Itsuki quickly shaked her hands and smiled embarassed to assure him that she was ok, which made its work as he sighed in relief. The thought of making him worried was something that she wanted to avoid as she cares deeply about him. He was her first friend that she made in the new school, and as he showed his kindness and trustworth, she was sure that nothing would happen between him and Miku if they were alone.
'Maybe I'm overthinking things; Miku probably just wants to talk with him about some historical subjects but alone because of her shyness. Yeah, it must be that.', she thought, managing to calm down after her internal distress.
Then she felt a strong hand giving her a gentle pat on her head, which made her blush and look at him. She saw two beautiful golden eyes looking directly at hers and a nice smile on her tutor's face. "Itsuki, if you're worried about me talking with Miku alone you don't have to. She and I will catch with you girls later after we talked, ok? You trust me after all, right?", he told her, still looking at her in the eyes.
The young woman blushed even more now because of what he said; his eyes and his reassuring words were making her happier to have him as a friend. She smiled brightly and answered, "Yes, of course I trust you Uesugi-kun. You showed me and my sisters the kindness you possess, so don't worry. We'll wait for you and Miku at the school gates."
Fuutarou smirked and continued to caress her hair. "Thank you Itsuki.", he told her, making her giggle.
Their classmates had been watching their sweet interaction, and the girls were now really jealous of how Itsuki received so much affection from him. And she wasn't his girlfriend to add that! But of course Fuutarou didn't care about the looks on him and Itsuki, and after stopping to headpat her, he refocused on the last lesson of the second period.
When their last class ended, Fuutarou got up and told Itsuki that he'd go to meet Miku, to which she complied. He smirked and left their classroom, directed towards the stairs for the rooftop. He reached them and climbed up, arriving to the door and opening it.
There, near the net of the rooftop, was standing the third oldest sister with her signature blue headphones and her light blue sweater. When she heard the door behind her being opened, she turned around to see a smiling Fuutarou walking towards her.
Miku blushed a little when she saw him, but managed to smile and said, "Thank goodness you arrived. I was scared that I put that message in the wrong desk."
"And here I am as you hoped. So, what do you wanted to talk about Miku?"
She blushed more when he asked her that question, so she replied bashfully, "Y-yeah, I w-wanted to talk with y-you about the Sengoku period. W-when you said it was one of y-your favourite historical periods, y-you really meant it?"
Fuutarou was a little surprised from her question, but by remembering something about the mock test he made them do the previous day, he quickly connected the dots and replied, "Yes, when I told you that I was saying the truth. I like the Sengoku era just like you Miku."
Miku was flushed now. "W-what? H-how did y-you figure out that?"
He smirked, "You gave me a few hints; when I told you the first time that I liked that era, you were very eager to study History with me. And when you took that mock exam with your sisters, you were the only one to answer correctly at the first question: Sue Harukata was the answer in fact."
The headphones girl was amazed by how the young man discovered her passion with a few hints. But the fact he discovered it made her a little sad. "Y-yeah, it's like you said Fuutarou: I love the Sengoku warlords. A-and I was happy that I found someone that shared my same interest in you.", she told him embarrassed.
"Do your sisters know about your passion?", he asked her curious.
Miku shaked her head. "N-no, I don't want them to know about it. Between the five of us, I'm the biggest loser as I don't have anything of special like them. And my passion for Sengoku warlords would only make me be inferior to them or other people.", she told him with a sad voice.
Suddenly, she felt a hand touching her head. She lifted her face and looked in front of her to find Fuutarou looking at her with a kind smile.
"Miku, you're not a loser or inferior to your sisters. Never think like that. If your sisters are beautiful, then you are too as you're quintuplets. If someone insults you for liking the Sengoku era, then I'll threaten them to shut up and get lost. What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to look down on yourself, because if your sisters have a talent in something, then you have it too but in something else.", he told her while giving her a headpat, leaving her red like a tomato because he told her that she was beautiful like her sisters and that he would protect her from someone that insulted her.
Then he stopped to pat her and opened his arms to hug her, putting her face against his chest. Miku was extremely flushed; Fuutarou's just hugged her?! Why?! She was just his student, so why was he hugging her?
She heard again his voice, "Miku, if you ever feel that you don't have anything of special or a talent, don't. You and I have the same interest for something, and as I told you, if someone makes you cry by insulting you for that, he will pay. No one makes fun of my friends."
His last sentence made Miku be more embarrassed. She lifted her gaze to look at him and asked, "D-do you s-see me as a f-friend, F-fuutarou?"
The black haired boy smiled and replied, "Of course Miku. Just like with Itsuki, I want to be your friend, not just your tutor. And the same goes for your sisters."
And here it is. His answer made Miku so happy that she left herself being hugged by him with a bright smile for more minutes. She had finally found a cute friend that not only shared her same passion, but was willing to protect her from whoever dared to make fun of her. She couldn't be happier than this.
"Fuutarou, thank you so much for seeing me as your friend. It makes me truly happy.", she told him with some tears of joy in the eyes.
"You're welcome, Miku. But don't cry now, or your sisters will be worried later. Here.", he replied, breaking off the hug and using a finger to dry away the small tears from her eyes. A gesture that made Miku blush again.
After he dried her tears, he took her hand and started to walk towards the door, making her be more embarrassed. "Let's go back to meet your sisters now. They're waiting for us.", he told her with a confident voice.
"Y-yes, Fuutarou. B-but c-could I a-ask you something?", she stuttered.
"What is it?"
"W-why d-did you h-hug me some minutes ago?"
The star student gave her a genuine smile. "Everytime my little sister looked sad or was on the verge of crying, I hugged her to make sure that she didn't think anymore about it and to cheer her up. I did the same with you because seeing my friend being sad is something I don't like. So If I see you cry again, I'll hug you another time in that case haha."
The young woman was overwhelmed by what she's just heard. That it existed someone so kind and helpful to others like him was making her even happier to have him as a friend. Even if in truth she found him very handsome in another sense.
Miku then smiled happily after he answered her, and walked with him holding his hand. When they passed through the door, she asked him if she could take a drink from the vending machine, getting an OK. She chose her drink, but she got two cans and offered one to Fuutarou. The young man looked at the can and asked, "Matcha Soda? Is it for me?"
Miku smiled, "It's a gift for you Fuutarou because you became my friend and accepted me as I am. Don't worry, there's not a snot inside of it."
"You know that story too heh? Then I'll gladly take it. Thank you, Miku.", he said, while taking the can and touching her hand in the process.
"Y-you're welcome, Fuutarou. Also, y-you have to p-promise that y-you'll take responsibility for making me and my sisters graduate.", she told him a little bashfully.
The boy with golden eyes smirked and pointed his right fist to the chest like a solemn gesture. "You can stay sure that I will, Miku. You and your sisters are gonna graduate with smiles on your faces!"
"I'm happy to hear that, Fuutarou.", told him a smiling Miku. So the two of them went downstairs while drinking Matcha Soda to reach the other sisters to the school gates. During the walk Miku and Fuutarou talked about some Sengoku warlords or anecdotes related to them, with her asking him If he played too the mobile game called "Sengoku War Tactics". He replied that he did, but he didn't have someone to play together online. Miku then asked him if she could add him, to which the young man happily agreed and showed her his player ID on his phone. Miku smiled brightly at the idea of playing her favourite game together with her just acquired friend.
After some minutes, the two of them exited from the school and reached her sisters to the school gates. The first one to notice them was Ichika, so she walked closer to them and asked, "Ara, you 2 are finally here. What did you talk about? A love confession maybe?"
Miku blushed, "N-no! I j-just talked w-with Fuutarou about some historical s-subjects. D-don't make a-assumptions, Ichika!"
Fuutarou replied too, "She's right. We just talked about that, don't worry."
Suddenly, the butterfly ribbons sister intervened too. "And why did you want to talk with him alone, Miku?", she asked with a somehow jealous voice.
Ichika giggled, "Fufu, you and Itsuki were really tired of waiting for Fuutarou-kun heh Nino?"
Nino and the youngest sister that was near Yotsuba got red like their hair. "What?! D-don't misunderstand, Ichika! I-I w-was worried about t-them, I w-wasn't waiting f-for Fuutarou.", replied an embarassed Nino.
"I-it's the same f-for me. S-stop t-teasing Ichika!", shouted a blushing Itsuki.
The oldest sister laughed a little to see her sisters inventing excuses to negate the truth, especially Itsuki. She was frowning all the time while waiting for him, because the idea of him alone with her sister made her quite jealous. Maybe he was more than just a friend for her haha.
Then a bunny ribbon girl popped up from behind Ichika and Itsuki and went to hug the young man, catching him by surprise and making her sisters gasping (except Miku that pouted).
"You and Miku are finally here, Uesugi-san. We can go for our study session now, right?", asked him the fourth sister with a cheerful voice.
Fuutarou was a little surprised by the sweet hug that she gave him. It's true that he was the first to give them headpats and a hug to Miku before, but he didn't expect Yotsuba to hug him like this. Nonetheless he didn't give it so much thought, as he had already figured out her character the day before somehow.
So he smiled and replied, while giving her a headpat, "Sure, we can go now. Seeing you so energetic is a good thing Yotsuba."
The bunny ribbon girl giggled happily and hugged him tighter. While Ichika was smiling to see her so affectionate with him, the other 3 sisters frowned instead, Miku in particular. She wasn't happy that Yotsuba was so clingy with her friend, so she pouted out of pure jealousy. Itsuki did the same but was less notable.
"Alright girls, let's go to study then. Are you ready?", he asked to the other sisters. That managed to stop their pouting phase and made them nod in agreement a little bashfully. Then he detached himself from Yotsuba, who reluctantly stopped to hug him, and started to walk in their apartment's direction while looking back at them to tell them to go. They smiled and started to follow him to reach their house for the tutoring session.
Especially Miku was looking forward to study with her new and handsome friend and her sisters, smiling genuinely while walking at his side and talking about the subjects that they will review. Her sisters noticed her demeanor with him, and got curious about what brought her to be so opened to talk with him and smile. Heh, seems that the third sister got closer to their tutor now.
A/N
And here we go with the third chapter. I read all your reviews guys, and I'm glad that you like so much this story. As you can read in this new chapter, I named Fuutarou's mom as "Shizuku", since I liked the sound of that name, and Miku opened up with him and made friends too (even If she sees more than just a friend in him haha). Fuutarou promised to protect her from whoever dares to hurt her feelings, which will open the way to show a little and interesting trait of his personality. What could it be? Stay tuned to find out.
See ya!