Can't believe we're closing in on 100 followers, I sincerely want thank everyone who not only follows but also to anyone who has given this fic a chance as it really makes me happy to know so many are enjoying this story.
In honor of when/if we reach that milestone, I plan to make a special oneshot regarding one of the Quints and a day in their life as Mrs. Uesugi! It will be voted on in the discord server Extalia Writer's Realm for which Quint it will be about, with voting ending as soon as we reach 101 follows on Return By Failure. Here's an invite link to the server, you'll find a lot of your favorite QQ fan fic authors there along with many other talented individuals and other fandoms as well! Do be warned that there are a few NSFW channels there so be careful if you are sensitive to that Anyway, I hope you all are excited not only for the oneshot but also for the continuation of this story as things begin to ramp up.
[discord .gg / cNMaaJWjHy]
Disclaimer: I do not own The Quintessential Quintuplets, they are owned by Negi Haruba, please support the official manga and the anime
Chapter 11:
"It's all starting to come together," Fuutarou said to himself as he sat back on his side of the booth. He was a bit exhausted from bouncing back and forth between the two sisters answering their questions, but what ultimately mattered was that his approach this time was definitely working. By focusing only on the first two formulas today, the girls were a lot less overwhelmed and were able to get a better grasp of identifying when and how to use them correctly.
He also had the added bonus of getting Miku's trust even more quickly than before so that he could give them equal attention. In addition to being supportive and kind to her, the smaller workload meant she was able to get through her problems much more quickly than in all other previous loops, where he had started the two girls off with the textbook practice questions. As a result, she began to lower her defenses almost immediately as she was nowhere near as overwhelmed by the situation as with prior loops.
Fuutarou also made sure to have physical contact with Miku to make sure he got that "contract" exchange done now instead of it appearing at a less opportune time. Similar to the first loop, he had their hands collide over a pastry both attempted to grab. He was very happy with how quickly he got it over with as it would have looked very awkward if he had to keep eyeing the food plate trying to time his hand to meet hers. Luckily, like everything else so far, this exchange went smoothly.
As Itsuki called for the check, Fuutarou noticed it was still pretty early as it wasn't quite 6pm yet. This was a huge change as every other loop had them leaving the cafe no earlier than 7pm. This definitely led to the girls being in higher spirits as they picked up their materials in preparation for leaving once the bill was paid.
"Thank you so much Fuutarou, this was extremely helpful," Miku gratefully told the boy, drawing his attention away from his thoughts. He turned his head to look her directly in the eyes and nodded while giving a simple smile, which seemed to be too much for Miku as she quickly turned her head to hide her reddening face.
"See Miku, I told you he was great at teaching!" proclaimed Itsuki as she joined the two of them after using the credit card given to her by her father to pay for their snack.
"You were right," Miku agreed, "and it's much easier to grasp how someone can improve so quickly under him. Though there are still a few unanswered questions I have that make me think he's still a wizard." Fuutarou tilted his head to the side in confusion but decided not to press on what she meant about him being a "wizard" as it was probably just some sort of sisterly teasing between the two of them. His theory was backed up by the fact that Itsuki laughed at her comment and waved it off.
"Now remember ladies, we'll be meeting at the public library at noon tomorrow. The two formulas we will be learning are much trickier than the two we did today," he informed them as they got set to go now that Itsuki had her card back. "I'm not telling you this to discourage you; I'm telling you this because tomorrow's session will probably be much longer than today's, so make sure you're prepared."
Both girls nodded but were unable to hide their nervousness. They definitely built some confidence today but all three knew that the two formulas they were going over tomorrow would comprise most of the test so failing to comprehend how and when to use them may still result in a failing grade no matter how well they knew the ones they learned today.
As Fuutarou and the two sisters parted ways, Fuutarou quietly pulled out his planner. He decided to switch back to it instead of texting himself a memo like he did in the last loop. Despite his improvement, his texting speed was still far slower than his writing speed. He noted down exactly how he went about approaching Miku today so that he could implement it again tomorrow. This would be critically important to make sure he kept her confidence high so she would survive tomorrow without wanting to flee.
He again thanked whatever deity was watching over him in this loop, and prayed for further good fortune. If he succeeded this time around it would indicate improvement in his adaptation skills as this cycle would be completed in one fewer loops while also adding an additional student.
Hey, if he was stuck with this power, he might as well make a competition out of it to keep himself motivated.
As he made his way home, he took out his phone to text Raiha that he'd be home early. He also informed her that Itsuki received her contact info, which quickly prompted his sister to ask for hers. Even though it initially stung Fuutarou's heart that she was more interested in Itsuki than him, he got over it and fulfilled her request. If he looked at it from her perspective, she was probably just extremely excited to have an older female friend.
Before long he had arrived at his apartment to notice his dad was not only around, but was in another person's apartment. Fuutarou's anxiety got the best of him as he sprinted across the street to the nearby apartment complex to confront his father about why he was taking furniture from someone else's apartment, getting a laugh from his father.
"Jeez Fuutarou, is that what you think of your old man?" he replied with a hearty chuckle as he put down the foldable table so he could talk with his son. "Do I really look like that much of a thug to you?"
"I mean, it would help if you went back to your original hair color," retorted Fuutarou in reference to Isanari's bleached blonde hair.
"Well you see, 'original hair color' is kind of the problem. I've had my hair this way for so long I don't even remember what it originally looked like," he replied as he scratched the back of his neck. Fuutarou just rolled his eyes.
"Please be serious pops," replied Fuutarou as he rolled his eyes. However, when he again focused his attention on his father, he saw him standing completely straight and sporting a stern, serious expression on his face.
"I am being serious," he said plainly, with no hint of sarcasm. It actually kind of frightened Fuutarou a bit that his dad could pull off such a convincing act. Too bad he had proof his dad was lying.
"No you're not!" the boy uttered incredulously. "Did you forget that I also bleached my hair for a period of time when I was younger? You have to reapply that crap every one to two months. Frankly, your dedication to it is the most consistent job you have."
Isanari's stern expression crumbled to pieces as he couldn't help hysterically laughing at his son's last remark. Usually a father would get angry at their child saying something so disrespectful and cold to them, but not Isanari. His personal motto was "A loving family that can't tease itself isn't close enough to be a true family." Granted it probably wasn't the best motto to live by, or even necessarily a good one, but it's how he had always lived his life and treated his friends and family. He even found a woman who shared his philosophy and married her. So he absolutely was going to share that feeling with the two kids they brought into this world. Though he did have to admit this might be why Fuutarou became so antisocial. Thankfully Raiha seems to be turning out fine, so at least he still went one for two.
"Anyway, back to the original topic. What are you actually doing then?" Fuutarou requested, trying to bring the conversation back around to his original question.
Before Isanari could respond, an older woman who still seemed to be physically fit but was definitely nearing 70, came out of the door with a huge box full of kitchen supplies. Trailing right behind her was Raiha with a slightly smaller but still pretty heavy-looking box full of antique tableware. Once she caught sight of her brother, she quickly but delicately placed the box down so she could wave at him.
"Welcome back Onii-chan, you're here just in time to help Natsuki-san move her stuff to the moving van!" The young girl then picked her box up and continued about her work after giving Fuutarou the information he'd been waiting for about five minutes to get.
"Sure I guess I can help," the young man said begrudgingly. It's not that he didn't want to help this woman who was the closest thing he had to a neighbor, it's just that he wanted to get right to work organizing how he wanted to tackle tomorrow's study session.
"Oh my Isanari-kun, is this your son? My, want a handsome young man he is," said the older woman having returned from dropping off her box. Fuutarou started to feel a little embarrassed about his "blah" attitude towards this obviously sweet old lady, though that feeling vanished when he felt an elbow jab him in the side.
"Well look at you there son. First that Itsuki girl and now Natsuki-san. I believe you're in what the kids would call your 'popular phase' now," said Isanari with a wink and a big shit-eating grin. In return, Fuutarou gave his father an unamused glare before sighing.
"Yeah, I changed my mind, I'll be in my room," he said as he started walking away. His attention was now on his phone to answer the text he had just received from Itsuki.
"Oh I see how it is," continued the older blonde man with an amused grin. "You can dish it out, but you can't take jokes when it's about you." However it seemed that Fuutarou either didn't hear his dad or was actively ignoring him as he was soon about to reach the stairs to their apartment. Seeing that he had no other choice, the usually laid back father knew it was time to use his secret weapon.
"Fuutarou..." called Isanari in a low, commanding voice. It was the one and only weapon that the elder Uesugi had over his son. That baritone name call caused a Pavlovian response in Fuutarou, as whenever his father used that tone of voice, the boy was incapable of ignoring it, likely due to childhood conditioning that told him that this time his father was extremely serious, something that wasn't always easy to tell.
"Fine, what do you need help with right now?" the young man asked without even trying to hide the fact he was annoyed. He finished his response text to Itsuki (which was basically her asking if they should eat first before heading to the library tomorrow, to which the he said yes), placed his phone in his pants pocket and went right to work helping his father move some of the bigger furniture out of Natsuki-san's apartment.
"Ha! See? I told you they'd be back any second!"
Nino's triumphant declaration was the first thing Miku and Itsuki heard upon entering their front door. It appears that Nino was having some kind of debate with Ichika right before the two studious sisters had returned. The sound of the shower in the background notified them that Yotsuba was also home and was washing up after her first official day of track practice.
"You don't know. This Fuutarou-kun seems pretty smart. Wouldn't surprise me if he sent them home early just to try and throw you off his trail like he is right now," teased Ichika as it appeared their discussion was about the true whereabouts of Itsuki and Miku after school.
"What are you girls even talking about?" asked Miku as she approached the two oldest sisters with Itsuki not far behind.
"Tell her Miku!" demanded Nino. "Tell her where you and Itsuki were for the last few hours."
"We were hanging out at a cafe after school," intervened Itsuki, who wanted to make sure Miku didn't accidentally give them away. "Since I grew a recent interest in history, I wanted to learn more about what we were taught recently and Miku said she'd be happy to discuss it with me."
Nino, who at first bought into this story when initially told, was now a lot less confident now after hearing Itsuki's reasoning again as it just seemed off to her now. Ichika found Itsuki's explanation amusing and decided to see how far out they planned this charade.
"Ooh, what did you teach Itsuki-chan? I'm interested too," she asked the third sister, getting her to tense up and start panicking. At that point, it was a dead giveaway this was all a ruse so Itsuki decided to give in and tell the truth.
"He's just helping us study for our Math test on Monday. We'll also be meeting him at the library tomorrow. I just didn't want you to make a huge deal about it, sorry for tricking you."
Ichika flashed a self-satisfied grin at being right about what her two younger sisters were doing. Meanwhile, Nino didn't have anything to say about the lie but was instead more focused on a particular detail.
"Wait, Miku is now studying with him?" she asked furiously as she started to grind her teeth. She couldn't remove that image she saw at lunch of the boy complimenting Miku right in front of Itsuki while also disrespecting Nino's accessories. It's one thing if this Uesugi guy was going to befriend and later potentially become more than a friend with one of her sisters, but it's another if he's involving himself with multiple sisters. Sensing a big misunderstanding, Miku quickly spoke up.
"It's not what you think, I invited myself and they both welcomed me." However, this had no calming effect on Nino. In fact, it made her even madder.
"Oh great, so now Miku has a crush on that jerk too!" she shouted which caused Miku to start blushing as she raised her textbook to cover her face. Itsuki wanted to give Nino a piece of her mind but was quickly silenced.
"Okay that's enough," Ichika projected firmly, which stopped everyone in their tracks. This included Yotsuba, who had just gotten changed and came out of the bathroom with no knowledge of what her sisters were fighting about. "Dad will be calling in five minutes so let's calm down and get our thoughts together so we don't worry him. A conversation with a bunch of pissed off, moody girls is the last thing our dad needs to hear after we just switched schools. Honestly, I don't see why you even have a problem Nino, but now isn't the time to discuss that."
The other sisters just hung their heads in shame. It's true their dad had been under a lot of stress lately and this drama was not something they wanted to burden him with at this moment. As they began calming down, Ichika's phone rang loudly throughout the silent room. It appears it was already time.
Ichika brought over a phone stand that was previously on a nearby shelf and set it up on the table. From there, she placed her phone before answering and then immediately switching it to speakerphone.
"Hi Dad/Papa/Father!" the girls shouted enthusiastically as they always did when their father called. They basically lived by themselves in their two story penthouse, so their weekly phone call with their dad was usually their only contact with the man on a normal week. Sometimes he'd call multiple times, but usually those instances had a specific purpose and were really short. These Friday evening calls were negotiated between him and the girls to be a causal environment where he basically tried to speedrun his duty of being a father by hearing them talk about what they were doing in their lives.
"Hello girls," Mauro Nakano greeted his daughters in the same serious tone he always did. The sisters could always hear his exhaustion when he greeted them, which punctuated the fact that they were fortunate to get this time with him as he was always working on something or someone. In essence, this weekly call also acted as a self-induced break for the doctor to help alleviate the mental pressure placed upon him on a daily basis. Yet even on his so-called "break" he remained completely structured and to-the-point. This led to his obvious first question. "How was your first couple days at Asahiyama High School?"
"The place is actually really nice," answered Ichika who, as the oldest, usually spoke first when their dad presented a question like this to all of them. "Not as fancy as our last school, but it definitely has its charm."
Each sister proceeded to tell their father about their first few days at the new school. Ichika talked about how the school's location was a lot closer to all the fun after-school hangout spots. Nino, bragged about already creating a close friend group with some of the more popular girls. Miku didn't say much, but did mention she felt a lot more comfortable at this school than their last one, which had always intimidated her due to it being a prestigious all-girl school. Yotsuba happily announced she joined the track team and already made a close friend with the captain Eba. While Mauro was happy for the fourth sister, he also made sure to remind her that this would be her only club until she improved her grades. While it sounded harsh, it was an understandable request since overcommitting to a huge number of clubs is what led her to nearly fail her first year and caused them to switch schools during the start of their second semester this year.
Last but not least, it was Itsuki's turn and the anticipation had been growing since the moment they decided to go in birth order. The other four Quints were anxious to hear their father's reaction to Itsuki's first few days, admittedly for varying reasons. Miku had purposely kept her comments brief as she wanted Itsuki to handle everything that involved Fuutarou Uesugi.
"Father, on that Social Studies test I scored a 78," the youngest Nakano said calmly and confidently. Both of those characteristics disappeared when a fairly loud crashing sound came from the other end of the phone.
"My apologies, something just fell off my desk," quickly explained Mauro to ease the girls' thoughts that maybe something had happened to him. What actually happened was that his long-time personal assistant Ebata had entered the doctor's personal office to drop off some binders that held reports from patients Mauro had treated earlier today. Whether it was because of his advanced age or the fact he had spent the last several years watching over these young ladies as they grew up and thus knew about their academic struggles, he had stumbled upon hearing Itsuki's announcement. This resulted in him dropping the binders and also knocking over a very heavy paperweight off the doctor's desk.
Meanwhile, Mauro's reaction was a lot tamer. Ebata had always marveled at the doctor's ability to stay calm in almost any situation. His personal belief was this was born out of necessity as it behooved a doctor to be calm at all times for the sake of his patients. However, Ebata was very happy to notice a smile on Mauro's face before he resumed talking into the phone.
"Itsuki-kun, did you say you scored a 78 on that Social Studies test?" His usually monotonous voice now had a hint of pride in his words.
"Yes I did father," Itsuki confirmed, no longer acting nonchalantly about it and getting excited that her dad was proud of her. "I met a boy in my homeroom who quickly became my friend and helped me study for the test. He's really good at explaining things."
The other four quintuplets dropped their jaws in amazement as Itsuki didn't even try to hide the fact she had a boy tutor her. Nino actually felt a little bad for Itsuki as she knew this good mood would soon turn into a lecture due to her younger sister's eagerness.
"Oh, is that right?" Mauro responded as his tone had returned to its default. Tension quickly covered the room as Itsuki, now regretting her decision to be so upfront, waited for her father's full reaction. It was a good thing she did, as it was completely unexpected.
"Tell me, what are the chances that he would agree to continue helping you?" their father asked which caught the sisters off guard. Already a nervous wreck, Itsuki just continued to be an open book.
"He actually already agreed to keep helping me. In fact, Miku and I just studied for our Math test with him before we got home." Itsuki then scolded herself mentally as she was revealing way too much information. She braced herself for the obvious follow-up about why Miku was also studying with this boy they just met, but it seems that their father was too focused on a particular train of thought as his tone didn't change.
"What are your thoughts on this boy Miku-kun? Was he just as helpful for you as he was for Itsuki-kun?" Mauro inquired of the middle daughter, who was completely caught off guard that not only was their dad taking this scarily well, but also wanted her opinion on the matter.
"Yes, extremely!" she blurted out after feeling the sudden pressure that was directed at her. Meanwhile Nino just stood there dumbfounded. Was Papa really contemplating this?
"Interesting. Do you two plan to meet him again this weekend or was this a one day study group?" Mauro continued his line of questioning. After Itsuki confirmed that she and Miku would meet him at the library on Saturday, Mauro finally seemed to find all the information he needed.
"While I'm not fond of the idea of some high school boy personally tutoring two of my daughters, I also can't let my prejudice get in the way of what could very well be our best option for helping you girls graduate. I'll tell you what Itsuki, if both you and Miku are able to get 'Cs' or above I'll interview this boy on the possibility of being a tutor for all five of you."
Stunned silence permeated the penthouse, to the point Mauro had to make sure the call didn't disconnect. Finally, Itsuki snapped out of her daze and answered.
"Understood father, we'll let you know the results as soon as we know them ourselves." She wanted to say something like 'just watch us as we reach our potential' but chickened out at the last minute so as no to sound too overconfident.
Having settled this issue, Mauro noted he had to go as both parties said their goodbyes. Itsuki and Miku gave each other a nervous but determined nod to each other now that they had extra motivation to do well on the math test. Yotsuba quickly excused herself to her room where she had a lot of things to think over. Nino just took a seat at the kitchen table and pondered what in the world their dad was thinking. Lastly, Ichika went over to congratulate Itsuki and Miku for getting this opportunity to prove themselves. Itsuki then sprung an unexpected question.
"Ichika, did you want to join us tomorrow? Since math is your best subject I figured you'd be interested in how he went about tutoring us." Itsuki's accompanying smile was extremely welcoming, but she declined.
"Sorry girls, I'm busy on Saturday," answered the oldest sister with a slight frown. Itsuki had an idea of what her sister was referring to so she left the matter alone. Ichika then excused herself and headed to her room.
It was a lot of tough physical labor, something that has always been a struggle for Fuutarou, but he persevered and helped his dad load the last of Natsuki-san's furniture into the moving van. This last piece in particular gave him and his father hell as it was an old pullout couch that worked perfectly fine but had a few springs sticking out of the sides. When he initially saw it he was about to recommend she buy a new one, but before he could say anything he felt his father's hand rest on his shoulder. One look at his dad's melancholy face communicated everything he needed to know: that couch had sentimental value to her. Oh well, if a few cuts and scrapes were the cost of his currently perfect loop this cycle, then so be it! They'd eventually heal and fade away... probably.
Isanari then quickly jogged to the apartment, changed into some clean clothes, and returned. Fuutarou was utterly confused until Natsuki-san gave his father the keys to the moving van as it seemed Isanari's job wasn't done. His job was done though, as he and Raiha waved goodbye to the older lady they barely knew. Well more like he barely knew as Raiha had played with the woman's grandchildren a few times when she was younger.
As he entered the apartment, a thought caught his mind: this was why his dad was never home when he came home on Friday during this cycle. It amused him how just a little change in schedule can reveal so much insight into what happened behind the scenes. Though he quickly tried to forget about it because the implication then became that Isanari and Raiha had to do the moving without Fuutarou's help during the first four loops, which made him feel awful even though he knew he shouldn't.
As he changed out of his clothes and drew a bath, another thing occurred to the young man. This was why Raiha was doing laundry on Friday night. He chuckled as he realized that even when it came to supernatural powers that his first instinct was to study and point out things. Since he planned on this being the last loop, he racked his brain to see if he could solve any more mysteries before escaping this cycle.
That's when it dawned on him.
He hurriedly got out of the bathtub and grabbed the nearest towel. Running and nearly slipping on the water he was tracking from his bath, he zipped over to the laundry area and let out a frustrated yell when he saw the washing machine had already started running.
He gripped the lid and pried it open, thankful that the washing machine the apartment came with wasn't an auto-locking model, otherwise he would have had to admit defeat. He rummaged through the soup of wet dirty clothes to find the pair of pants he had just been wearing 15 minutes ago. Digging into the pockets he found his phone and froze in fear before taking a deep breath and flipping it open.
He was too late.