Chapter 9
"Meet me on the rooftop after the lessons. I need to talk with you.-Fuutarou."
That was the content that Yotsuba read inside the little note that she found under her desk in the morning at school. A note from her and her sisters' tutor nonetheless. But what could be the reason for him to leave a note like that?
The bunny ribbon girl thought intensely about it while she was climbing the stairs to reach the rooftop, and suddenly she arrived to a conclusion that made her blush profusely: a love confession maybe?!
'N-no…It's i-impossible that Uesugi-San could confess to me so soon! I-it's true that I h-hug him everytime that I see him like earlier at lunch, but h-he wouldn't confess to me just because of that, right?', she thought, extremely embarassed by the prospect of a love confession from her childhood crush, who became also the love interest of her sisters, which made her jealous.
Yotsuba had noticed how her sisters got affectionate to Fuutarou in the little time that they met him and the examples were clear; Miku happily chatting with him while blushing, Ichika going to a photoshoot with him, Nino preparing lovely bentos for him and Itsuki being in delight whenever he patted her head. All this was making Yotsuba pout out of jealousy, but now it was better to avoid looking like that in front of her beloved.
Finally, the young girl reached the door that brought to the rooftop, and when she opened it she could see the young tutor looking in the horizon through the net. As soon as he heard the sound of the door opening, he turned around to see his student, smiling gently at her.
"You read my note, eh Yotsuba? I'm glad.", he said, walking towards her to stand a few centimeters in front of her.
Yotsuba smiled at him cheerfully, despite her red cheeks. "I couldn't refuse to come here! It was a note from Uesugi-San hehe! So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Yotsuba, I guess you know that I met 2 of you 5 in Kyoto 5 years ago, right?"
She got nervous. "Y-yes, I k-know that you met Ichika in fact. B-but why d-do you want to t-talk about that?"
Fuutarou continued to smile and told her, "Because I know that it was you the girl that I made that famous promise with, Yots-no, Rose-chan."
If Yotsuba hadn't been shocked before, she would be now. "Ehhh? W-what a-are you s-saying, U-Ues-"
She got interrupted by Fuutarou's chuckle, "Haha, you're not good at lying, Yotsuba. Also, it was Miku who told me that it was you the girl that I met other than Ichika."
In that moment Yotsuba looked down; so Fuutarou discovered her true identity? But why does it make her sad and not just happy? Why can't she smile brightly at him like a minute ago?
"I-I'm s-sorry, Uesugi-San. I-I wanted to tell you the truth and reunite with you, b-but I w-was ashamed of failing our promise that I d-didn't have the courage to do it. I t-thought to t-tell you once I m-managed to ameliorate my g-grades thanks to you. I-I'm so sorry.", she told him, almost on the verge of crying.
Then she felt a hand patting her head, and when she looked up she saw his nice smile and beautiful golden eyes looking at her with compassion and kindness.
"Yotsuba, I would never be angry with you because you failed our promise. I could never do that. It was thanks to my meeting and my promise with you that I decided to get better at school at that time, and if you couldn't accomplish the same is ok. And you know why? Because now you and your sisters have me to help you, and I can promise you that no one of you will flunk out on my watch."
He then opened his arms to give her a signal. "Let's make a new promise, Rose-chan: me, you and your sisters will do our best to graduate together no matter what. And now, how about we reunite properly?", he told her with a wink.
The tears of sadness that were about to fall from Yotsuba's eyes became tears of joy after hearing all that Fuutarou said, so she got the signal and hugged him tightly with her face planted on his chest. "Yes! I promise you that I will do my best from now on, Ues-no, Fuutaoru-kun. I-I m-missed you so much.", she cried while tightening her hug with him caressing the back of head and hugging her back.
They stayed like this for a while until Yotsuba stopped crying and detached reluctantly from him. She looked down embarassed for how she acted and couldn't look at him in the eyes. But then she felt his hand grabbing hers, so she looked up to see his smiling face with a toothy grin. Again, that smile that managed to make her fall in love with him as kids and that held a particular meaning: "Don't worry, I'm always there for you!"
Seeing that smile relaxed her, so Fuutarou took advantage of this to wipe off her tears and pat her head once again, making her giggle happily.
'How silly I was…Fuutarou-kun is right, he wouldn't never hate me for failing our promise. I was feeling guilty for nothing. And the fact that we made a new promise just gives me more determination to do my best in my studies and also to make him love me. Hehe, Fuutarou-kun is my childhood love after all!', she thought while she exited the rooftop and kept holding Fuutarou's hand, as if she refused to let it go.
While they were climbing down, the two teenagers talked about what they did after meeting the first time in Kyoto, sharing both sad and happy memories or events happened during the previous 5 years. Yotsuba even pouted when Fuutarou told her that it was true that Miku revealed her identity, which made Fuutarou chuckle and pat her head to make her smile again. And obviously, as she loved his headpats, it worked.
Since the lessons were ended from the moment Yotsuba left her class to reach the rooftop, both she and the young man went to her class to grab her schoolbag and reached their sisters that were waiting for them at the gates.
As soon as she saw him, Nino went towards Fuutarou with a pout, "Fuu-kun, where were you? Why were you alone with Yotsuba?"
"Let's say that I reunited with a childhood friend after so long. Sorry if you waited, Nino.", he told her, patting her head lovingly and making her smile.
' So Yotsuba was your other childhood friend. Mouu, I'm a little jealous. But it doesn't mean that I can't make you fall for me hehe.' , she thought, smiling smugly at Yotsuba and her sisters that pouted jealously.
"It's ok, Fuu-kun. Today you're going shopping with me after all!", she happily said, shocking her sisters.
"W-What?! W-why do you and Fuutarou-kun have to go shopping?", asked Itsuki loudly, puffing her cheeks.
"Hehe, because Fuu-kun accepted my invitation and told me that he looked forward to that.", replied the social butterfly with a smug look.
"It's true, girls. Which means that I will give you some worksheets to do while I will be with Nino to the mall. We'll review them together later.', he said while taking out some worksheets written by him to give them to each quint and headpatting them n return, making them giggle. They loved that gesture!
"Well, you went with me to my photoshoot and to the museum with Miku. If you want to go shopping with Nino it's ok, Fuutarou-kun.", told him Ichika with a nice smile.
The only ones that were pouting out of jealousy were Itsuki and Miku, who didn't appreciate the fact that the black haired guy was going to pass some time alone with their sister instead of tutoring them. They wanted his attention on them too!
Not seeing anyone else express her opinion on the matter, Fuutarou smiled and grabbed Nino' hand, catching her by surprise. He waved at his students by telling them to so their bests, with Nino smiling smugly at them despite her visible blush.
'Yatta! Finally I can have some time alone with him to make him fall for me! I'm sorry for my sisters, but I won't throw away this occasion hehe!', she happily thought while interlocking her fingers with Fuutarou's and walking together towards the bus station to take a bus and reach the mall.
After half an hour of chatting together inside the bus, Nino and Fuutarou reached the shopping center and went directly inside one of Nino's favorite clothes shops.
"Fuu-kun, have you some ideas about what you would like to try on?"
"Hmm, usually I like coloured shirts and blue jeans. But I wouldn't mind trying something on your suggestion, Nino.", he told her with a nice smile.
She blushed and giggled, "Hehe, just wait here then. I will choose an amazing outfit for you!"
So Fuutarou waited for Nino while she was choosing a set of clothes for him, with some girls looking at him with sweet eyes and talking about him with low voices.
"Do you see that guy over there? He's so handsome!"
"Oh gosh, you're right! His face is so cute and look at how strong he looks. Aww."
"Maybe he's single. Perhaps we can try to talk with him hehe."
But the social butterfly that was choosing some clothes for the young man had heard their whispers, and she angrily frowned. 'Oh no you don't! I won't let some other girls approach Fuu-kun on my date with him! I don't need other rivals!', she thought while quickly finishing to choose some clothes for him.
And after that she returned to him with the chosen outfit, receiving a nice headpat as thanks that she happily accepted. The young man then entered in a changing room to try on the clothes while Nino waited patiently for him. And in some minutes later Fuutarou exited from the room with a particular look; he wore a black jacket upon his red t-shirt accompanied by gray trousers with a little chain attached to it.
He definitely looked like a hot bad guy that managed to make Nino and other girls inside the shop blush intensely, attracted by his nice looks. His wild black hair and nice golden eyes were a further attractive element.
The top student took a good look at his new appearance in the mirror and smiled, "It was since a long time that I didn't dress up like this. I kinda missed it. What do you think, Nino?"
The butterfly ribbons sister got out of her trance of staring at the handsome figure of her crush, so she nervously smiled and said, "O-Oh, i-it l-looks great on you, F-Fuu-kun. D-do y-you like it?"
"Absolutely! You're really the most stylish between your sisters with such good sense of fashion. Thank you, Nino.", he replied with a grin that made her blush even more.
"T-thank y-you for the compliment, F-Fuu-kun.", she said, looking away and twiddling her hair eembarassed.
She felt again his hand on her head. "How about I say my opinion about your outfits in exchange?", he asked her nicely.
She looked up at him, blushing. "O-oh, t-thank you. I-I w-would really appreciate it, Fuu-kun. Can you wait here meanwhile?"
He nodded and let her go to choose some clothes for her. Still, she felt her heart beating faster than usual because of his dangerous kindness that continued to make her fall for him even further. Gosh, why she didn't meet him during her middle school years or earlier? A nice guy like him was truly her Prince Charming, and he was also capable of acting like a bad guy if it was to protect the people dear to him.
Yeah, she thought again about that moment during the fireworks festival when he saved her from that jerk that wanted to punch her. Fuutarou protecting her and checking if she was hurt was what made her more attracted to him; she was already after their first tutoring session where he treated her nicely, but now she was totally in love with him. And since she wanted him to feel the same, better do her best then.
After waiting for some minutes, Fuutarou was called by Nino to check her outfit, and when she opened the curtain he was met by a beautiful sight: Nino was wearing an elegant white blouse with a long purple skirt. She kept her white long socks but changed her shoes with a more elegant pair decorated with some ribbons.
"W-what do you think, Fuu-kun?", she asked him, trying to sound confident despite the nervous smile on her face.
"Wow, it looks great on you, Nino! You're so beautiful like that! I like it!", he replied, blushing and smiling at her.
Nino's heart felt again Cupid's arrow pierce it; the level of happiness reached because of his words was enough to make her smile blissfully.
"Hehe, you think so? T-then I-I will buy it.", she said, giggling. She then proceeded to try on other outfits that she thought would delight Fuutarou, wearing also a swimsuit that left some skin uncovered that made Fuutarou blush and say "It's very cute.". Seeing his reaction and hearing his compliment made her even happier while the girls were envious of her for having such a nice guy to hang out with her.
After a while they were done with their shopping, during which Fuutarou chose some coloured shirts to use at school. He wanted to pay for his clothes but Nino told him with a smile that she didn't mind paying for everything. Fuutarou simply headpatted her in return, making her giggle.
They then decided some other shops like an electronics one and others, laughing and enjoying their time together. At a certain point, Fuutarou noticed a crepes stand, so he asked Nino if she wanted one too, receiving a happy "Yes! A strawberry one please hehe!".
She then sat on a bench to wait for him, but a stranger approached her after a minute. "Hey girl, what are you doing here alone?"
Nino looked up to see a guy with unkempt hair that was looking at her in an annoying way. She made a disgusted face and said, "I'm not alone, I'm waiting for someone here."
"Your boyfriend maybe? He must be a dumbass to leave you alone by yourself. Why don't you hang out with me instead?"
Hearing that made Nino glare angrily at him. "The dumbass here is you, and now leave me alone. I'm not interested."
He then got annoyed and tried to grab her arm, but his wrist was caught by another hand. He and Nino looked at his right to see a black haired young man glaring menacingly at the jackass. Nino was happy to see that it was Fuutarou.
"Oi you idiot, what were you trying to do with her, eh?", asked him an angry Fuutarou.
"W-what d-do you want? A-are y-you her b-boyfriend?", replied the ugly asshole, feeling scared because of the angry golden eyes of Fuutarou.
"I'm on a date with her and you try to hit on her while I was buying some crepes for me and her? You better get lost before I break your wrist.", was the reply of Fuutarou that tightened his hold on the guy's wrist, making him flinch in pain. The idiot was then released and quickly got away, scared as hell of the young man.
"Are you ok, Nino? He didn't hurt you, right?", Fuutarou asked her with concern.
Nino blushed and giggled, "Hehe, I'm fine, Fuu-kun. Thanks. This is the second time that you save me, isn't it?"
Fuutarou chuckled, "Haha, I guess that I care so much about you that it became an habit. But I'm glad that you're ok. Oh yeah, here's your crepe. It's a strawberry one as you asked."
She took her crepe and thanked him in return while he sat down next to her to eat his chocolate one. They both enjoyed their food happily, with Nino giggling all the time.
'I wasn't scared of that jackass at all, but seeing Fuu-kun come to rescue me as if he was a white knight another time makes me so happy! He didn't say that he's my boyfriend earlier but he sees this hanging out as a date anyway! Aww.', she thought, recalling what happened just 2 minutes ago.
The young man instead smiled while seeing the second oldest quint giggle so happily; he was glad that she wasn't hurt, and he had to admit tha she was even cuter with that happy expression of hers. She and her sisters had a very strong charm indeed. And since he was enjoying her time with her, maybe making her happier was a nice idea.
"Say, Nino, how about we take a selfie together?", he asked her.
She stopped to eat her crepe to look at him and beamed, "R-really? Can we?"
"If it makes you even happier than now then yes.", he replied with a wink.
She blushed and exclaimed, "Then let's use that photo booth over there! I want more than one photo!"
Fuutarou nodded and went with her inside the photo booth after finishing their crepes. Once inside they took their photos in various positions: hugging each other, making a V-sign together and even doing some strange faces. When they were done, Nino admired their photos with a nice smile on her face, feeling very happy. Fuutarou too was happy and headpatted her once again.
"Fuu-kun, these photos are fantastic! Thank you so much!"
"Haha, you're welcome. Seeing you smile like that makes me really glad."
Nino then hugged him in the same way of Yotsuba, placing her face close to his toned chest. Even if they were in public she didn't care; she really wanted to hug Fuutarou right there, and he obviously returned the sweet gesture.
Some old women giggled at seeing two teenagers hugging each other so lovingly, while the girls and the boys felt envious of them. Not that it mattered as Fuutarou and Nino continued to hug anyways.
The social butterfly couldn't help it; the date with her crush was great and her feelings for him just increased, making her love him even more. Plus, the warmth she was feeling because of the hug was making her feel safe. Safe in his arms.
They stayed like that for more minutes until Fuutarou asked if she wanted him to accompany her at home. She happily agreed and they exited through the mall, calling Ebata to accompany towards the Pentagon.
Once inside the limousine, the young girl leaned her head on Fuutarou's shoulder with her eyes closed and a dreamy smile, making Fuutarou grin too. Ebata smiled as well at such sight.
When they arrived, Fuutarou and Nino got out of the limousine greeting Ebata, with thr young man offering to bring the bags inside. She of course gladly accepted and offered to make some cookies for him, with him nodding.
So they entered in the building and took the elevator, chatting between themselves.
"Fuu-kun, I really had fun with you today. Thank you so much for going to the mall with me!"
"You're welcome, Nino. I enjoyed me too passing the time with you there, and I wouldn't mind going somewhere together again after the midterm exams.", he replied.
"Ah, it's true. There are those stupid exams to pass. I almost forgot.", she said, frowning.
"Don't worry, with me to help you and your sisters you'll pass them for sure! I promise you!", he told her, caressing her head.
She then clung on his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling brightly. Fuutarou smiled as well and let her do. "Fuu-kun, thank you. I know that you're going to do your best to help us, and I will do the same to make you proud!"
Fuutarou just grinned and headpatted her, making her giggle for the umpteenth time.
Finally, they reached the quints' apartment floor and when Nino and Fuutarou entered, they found the other quints watching the TV or working on Fuutarou's worksheets.
The other quints noticed their sister and their tutor, with Yotsuba jumping from her seat to run towards him. "Fuutarou-kun! You came back earlier hehe! Can you help me with these equations, please?", she asked him, showing him the sheet.
"Oh, sure Yotsuba. Just let me put down these bags on the sofa and I will help you.", he replied with a smile.
"Ara ara, now that you reunited with your childhood friend you call him by his first name, eh Yotsuba-chan?", teased Ichika.
"Ehhh?! N-no, i-it's not like you think, Ichika!", pouted Yotsuba, making everyone chuckle.
"Well, I'm going to bake some cookies for everyone now and work on my worksheet too.", said Nino, giving a wink to Fuutarou to say "Especially for you, Fuu-kun."
"Alright, let's see your work girls.", he proposed, with every quint happily agreeing. So Fuutarou checked the answers on each worksheet of every quint, correcting the wrong ones and praising every sister with compliments and headpats. He did the same after a while with Nino when she was done with baking the cookies, making her giggle and her sisters pout jealously.
They continued to work like this for half an hour, until Miku raised her hand
"Yes, Miku? Do you have a question?"
"Yes, Fuutarou. I wanted to know this: what kind of girls do you like?", she asked him, blushing a little but calmly. Such question perked the interest of the other quints around the table too.
"Oh, that's an interesting question. Someone of you is curious too about it?", he asked to the others.
Nino promptly raised her hand, "Yes! I want to know the answer!"
"Hehe, Onee-San too."
"Me too, Fuutarou-kun!"
"I w-would l-like to k-know it as well, F-Fuutarou-kun."
Basically every quint was looking at him with curiosity completely visible in her eyes due to wanting to know the answer to the question. Seeing this made Fuutarou smile.
'Haha, they really wanted to know it. Oh well, let's make it a little playful and funny.'
"Ok, since you 5 seem very eager to know it, let's make a little game with a reward. Give me some minutes.", he said, getting some papers and a pen from his bag to prepare something that increased the quints' curiosity.
After he was done, he showed them a giant sheet entitled "What Fuutarou likes in girls" with three spaces covered each one by a piece of paper. "The game is simple: everytime one of you manages to finish a page of exercises from your textbooks, I will reveal one of the top 3 qualities that I like the most in a girl. Plus, there's a reward; if one of you manages to finish 2 pages of exercises, I will give her a hug in return!", he explained to them nicely.
"Ehh?! Really?", they asked in unison, getting a happy nod from him. This was enough to activate their challenge mode and start to work on their textbooks while Fuutarou simply stood sat down with the giant sheet in show. Making their tutoring session funnier with such a game was a great idea.
"Ok, I finished one page, Fuutarou-kun.", said Itsuki.
"Good, then the first quality is (drumroll) Always cheerful."
Itsuki giggled while the others frowned. They weren't gonna to lose!
"Fuutarou, I finished one page too.", said Miku.
"Good job Miku, and the second quality is (drumroll) Good at cooking."
Hearing the second quality made Miku and someone else frown a little while Nino smiled smugly.
Now there was only a quality left, so every quint tried her best to finish the second page or do two pages in a row. Everyone wanted being hugged!
And after some minutes, it was Ichika to raise her hand. "I'm done with one page, Fuutarou-kun." Miku and Itsuki pouted because they had tied with her.
"Nice, then here is the last and top quality, which is…
Every quint looked at him blushing and eagerly waiting for the answer while the drumroll continued.
And finally, Fuutarou showed the last quality, "Blue eyes and red hair!"
At the sight of the last quality, this was the thought of every quint: 'Blue eyes…red hair…w-wait, that m-means then that…Fuutarou's ideal type of girl is-'
Their thought was interrupted by the young man's voice, "I guess that the last quality surprised everyone of you, but what you may be thinking right now is exactly what it looks like. And since all of you did your best to do your exercises, you deserve a reward!", he said, getting up to give each one a nice hug that made them blush intensely with some of them giggling and returning it too.
The top student then checked the time and decided to go home. "Good, I hope you liked this tutoring session and I will see you again on Monday. If someone has questions, just text me.", he said while packing his things.
"We liked it a lot, Fuutarou-kun/Fuu-kun/Fuutarou! See you again!", they happily said in unison.
'You know what? Another reward for them is not a bad idea', he thought, while returning to them to give each quint a quick peck on the forehead, making her blush profusely.
They then looked at him with their faces red as tomatoes while he gave them a smile and a wink that were enough to tell them what that reward meant. Then he left with the quints still blushing and some of them touching the point kissed by him.
"Hahaha, I-I d-didn't expect something like that.", said Ichika with am awkward laugh.
"Awawawawa, F-F-Fuutarou-kun is-is so bold.", said a flushed Yotsuba
Miku and Itsuki didn't say anything as they steamed, while Nino was touching her cheeks and giggling, "Hehehe, I decided! I will make Fuu-kun mine!"
That broke off Miku's and Itsuki's steaming phase and made them frown. "W-what?!", they shouted in unison with Ichika and Yotsuba.
"You heard me girls; I love him, and after discovering what type of girls he likes and receiving that nice peck, I will do my best to make him my boyfriend!"
"N-no, I will be his g-girlfriend!", replied Miku with a pout.
"Fuutarou-kun is my childhood friend! He clearly likes me the most!", said Yotsuba, remembering the time he distinguished her from Ichika in Kyoto to gain more confidence.
"Hehe, he's my childhood friend too you know? I'm sure he likes me more.", replied Ichika, reminiscing the same thing.
"I-I'm sorry, but Fuutarou-kun prefers me girls.", said Itsuki diligently and confidently.
And the quints playfully confronted each other about every sister's intention to make the young man fall in love with her. Obviously they didn't argue hastily or something, but simply teased each other and nothing else. It looks that Fuutarou's last actions lighted a growing fire in each one of them haha.
A/N
And here we are with the 9th chapter! I'm sorry for the long wait, but I got busy with some real life stuff. But talking about something else, you can see that Fuutarou finally reunited for real with his dear Rose-chan, making a brand new promise with her. He even went on a date with Nino, further increasing the feelings that she has for him thanks to his great kindness and will to protect her again from some ugly jackass. Such a knight!
The young man even showed them the 3 qualities that he looks at in a girl, and it seems that the peck he gave to each quint on the forehead confirmed his attraction to them fufu. And now everyone of them is determined to make him love her. Yes, this story has a harem ending, but some good and fair competition is always pretty sweet haha.
I thank you for the reviews on last chapter and hope that you like this one too. Stay tuned for more.
See ya!