The Quint Bug strikes again haha! I hope everyone likes this. Just some fluff I thought needed to exist. If you wish for something that might scale to be a larger fic, XenoTime39's fic Gotoubun no Hanayome AE does this perfectly. Also, he just so happens to be my beta, so I thank him dearly for that. LanceSennin's 5 sister story is also a good one, but more if you're going for a harem route ;). Hope you all enjoy!
Beta: XenoTime39
discord: [discord . gg / yARsw4UtaC]
"Wah! Mama, you can't catch me!" announced the boisterous 4-year old, Uesugi Naoko.
"You can't catch me either!" added Naoko's partner in crime, 4-year old, Uesugi Akane.
Uesugi Miku's composure didn't change as her kids were taunting her from across the room. She simply put a finger to her chin and said, "Oh, well that's a shame. I guess tomorrow, while Papa and I are on our trip tomorrow, we'll have to leave you two."
"WHAT?!" yelled out both Naoko and Akane. They both did not want to miss out on their trip.
"Uh, Mama. You've caught me now," Akane said, walking up to Miku, giving her a hug.
"Akane, you traitor!" Naoko pointed at his sister.
"Bleeeeeh, I want to go on a trip with mama and papa!" Akane explained, her hand pulling an eyelid down and then sticking her tongue out. The face she was making was the Akanbe.
Naoko looked betrayed, but at Akane's declaration, he shifted around nervously before going in for a hug. "I want to go on a trip too!"
"There, there," Miku said, rubbing both of their heads. "Now, let's wait for Papa to get home and then we can have dinner together!"
"Yay!" cheered Naoko and Akane. The two quickly scurried to the dinner table.
Coincidentally, the door opened at that moment, revealing Uesugi Fuutarou, back home from work. "That was good timing, papa. Dinner is starting soon. How was work?" asked Miku.
Before Fuutarou could answer, two voices yelled out, "Papa!" and two flashes of small bodies running could be seen on Miku's end colliding with Fuutarou.
"Hey you two, go wash up. Since dinner is starting soon, we can't have your hands dirty," said Fuutarou, ruffling their heads as they clinged to his legs.
"Okaaay!" the two redheads replied, retreating to the sink.
Fuutarou gave his wife a hug and said, "Work was normal, just had to get a bit more work done so that I could take time off. What about you? Tsubaki is manning the restaurant in your absence, right?"
Miku nodded. "That's the plan. Since we're partners, it's not a big deal for her to take some of my days. Unlike your fancy IT work, our hours are more determined by our own work ethic."
Fuutarou let Miku help him take off his suit and replied, "Yeah, but since your restaurant is so popular, you can afford to take time off. Your customers won't abandon the restaurant because they're so addicted to your cooking."
"Hue hue. What can I say? I've practiced a lot. I didn't spend 4 years at Culinary school for nothing."
"Well, I'm just fortunate enough to marry such an individual."
"Indeed you are. And Fuutarou?"
"Hmm?"
"You suck at flirting, pftt pue pue'' Miku said, laughing as Fuutarou's facial expressions morphed into embarrassment.
Fuutarou's embarrassment shifted as his smile turned into a cheeky one as he grabbed Miku's face, specifically, her cheeks, yanking them while saying, "It's not so nice of you to tease your husband, Miku. It might make me want to tease you back."
Miku replied, "Stap it. We 'ave 'inner."
"They're still washing up. No need to worry," Fuutarou said, letting go of Miku's cheeks.
"You're getting cheeky in your old age," Miku said, rubbing her cheeks.
"I'm 27, the same age as you! That's not old at all. You might make your dad cry if he hears you say that 27 is old."
Miku giggles as she comments, "Well, I'm sure that he would appreciate it if it meant he could see Akane and Naoko more."
"That's for sure!" Fuutarou agreed, breaking out into laughter.
"Mama, Papa, let's eat!" shouted Akane and Naoko in unison. Miku and Fuutarou simply stared at each other before falling into some light laughter.
"We're coming. No need to worry." Fuutarou yelled back before turning to Miku. "Tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun. It's been a while since we've visited."
"Well, I can only hope that Naoko and Akane like hot springs."
(-)
Getting off a boat, the family of four arrived at the island, Himakajima with a lot of energy coming from the twins.
"Kōwa Station was so cool!" said Naoko.
"All those trains were so big!" commented Akane.
"Well, I guess after seeing something as intriguing as a train, the bus we rode was inferior in comparison, huh," Miku said to Fuutarou.
"The bus is the fastest way to the boat we had to also happened to be the cheapest way as well."
"That definitely had no impact at all in your decision on how we'd get here, right?" Miku said sweetly, sarcasm dripping off of every word.
"Riiight," Fuutarou said, his eyes not meeting hers. Looking ahead, Fuutarou asked, "Toraiwa Hot Springs isn't that far, right?"
"It shouldn't be. The last time I was here, we drove the whole way to the inn, so I don't know if I have the best frame of reference of the distance to get there."
"Well, I hope it's not too far. Carrying these bags is a struggle," Fuutarou said.
Miku patted her husband's arm, saying, "Aww. You worked so hard at the gym though."
"We worked out together. Shouldn't you help?"
Miku pouted, "You're really going to ask your wife to help you carry bags?" Miku's face shifted to a smirk, "I guess I'll help you a little bit." Miku took the bag off the top, containing the twins' luggage.
"Thank you very much," Fuutarou said as he bowed to who he considered to be his better and more cheeky half.
"You're very welcome," Miku said, teasing Fuutarou by poking his nose.
"Mama, Papa, can we go to the beach?" asked Naoko with accompanied pleading puppy eyes from Akane.
Miku put her hands on her knees as she bent over and looked at the twins and said, "We're not here for the beach. We're going to a certain inn that papa and I have been at in the past. It used to be my grandfather's hot spring!"
"Really?" both of them asked. When Miku nodded, the two cheered and Naoko exclaimed, "That's so cool!"
Akane nodded quickly, yelling, "What're we waiting for? Let's go!"
Fuutarou grunted as he replied, "Papa's having trouble carrying the luggage. You guys can go on ahead."
Akane replied, "Waaaaat?! Papa, we can't leave you behind!"
Naoko added, "We believe in you papa! Push forward!"
"They're right y'know," said Miku, who was pushing Fuutarou from behind, supporting him despite carrying a bag herself.
Fuutarou, inspired by the hopeful eyes of his children and the support of his wife, suddenly felt like he was reaching his second wind and so with renewed vigor, he led his family to Toraiwa Hot Springs.
(-)
"Dad, we're here," greeted Miku.
"Miku-kun, Fuutarou-kun. Welcome to Toraiwa Hot Springs," Maruo said monotonously with a seemingly-intimidating glare.
"Taking over the inn while still maintaining your medical practice must be hard, right?"
"Nowadays, I barely go in unless there's an emergency. Since I moved my practice here, there's no need for me to go in daily." Maruo looked past Fuutarou and his eyes met his grandchildren's. "Now who are these two."
"You're such a kidder. You were there when they were born. It's your grandchildren." Miku said. "Akane and Naoko. Meet your grandfather."
Naoko and Akane looked wide-eyed at the graying haired glaring man with a different attitude. Both of them took a hold of one side of him, hugging him saying, "Grandfather! It's nice to meet you!"
Akane spoke up. "Thanks for the presents!"
Maruo couldn't take his granddaughter's bright expression and instead looked away, mumbling, "It was nothing."
"But it wasn't nothing. It was a bunch of fun toys! Thank you!," countered Naoko.
"Err.." mumbled Maruo.
Miku and Fuutaou burst out laughing. "They have you there, father. We were sure to tell them who exactly always gave them a pile of presents on their birthday. You only have yourself to blame," commented Fuutarou.
"We really appreciate your kindness dad. Naoko and Akane are absolutely all over their toys whenever they're home!"
Maruo's blank expression became slightly flushed at the attention. Instead of avoiding it, Maruo instead picked up both of his grandchildren and said, "It's only natural that I spoil Miku's children."
"Hey, they're my kids too!" spat out Fuutarou.
Maruo ignored that as he carried his grandchildren into the inn. "Woah! Grandfather is super strong!" said Naoko.
"Where're we going?" asked Akane, giggling at being carried.
Maruo said, "We're going to your room where you'll stay. Any idea how long you're staying?" Maruo addressed the last question to his daughter.
"Only two days. Fuutarou and I can't leave our jobs for that long."
"That's a shame. I wish I could spend some more time with my grandchildren."
"Don't worry, Grandfather! We'll come over more often!" Naoko blurted out.
"Right, we wanna see Grandfather too!" chirped Akane.
Maruo said nothing as he arrived at their room and sat them down. Fuutarou whispered to Miku, "It's sort of weird how embarrassed he gets like this. My old man was really intentional about him spoiling Naoko and Akane."
"Oh shush. Dad just can't deal with showing his affection as openly as Isanari-san. You know that."
"Well, for how difficult it was to get him to come to the wedding, I think he ought to acknowledge me now!"
"Oh, you know he's just messing with you. He already acknowledged you the moment we graduated."
"Well, he sure doesn't show it," Fuutarou muttered before turning to his kids who were inspecting every spot in the room.
"This is our escape route Akane if Mama and Papa make us eat anything nasty," whispered Naoko to Akane.
"Right, we'll distract them and then zip out of there!" Akane agreed.
"Exactly, what food are you expecting us to eat that is so nasty?" interjected Miku, startling the two of them.
The two looked guilty at their plotting, but eventually, Naoko muttered out, "Broccoli…"
Fuutarou came into the conversation, saying, "You know those are good for you! Why is it broccoli in particular that y'all have trouble eating? Is it because it's green?"
"Mmm," nodded Akane. "It also looks like a bushy tree. Trees aren't yummy!"
Miku said, "You're right, trees aren't yummy, however, broccoli is yummy if you would try it more. Maybe eat it without looking at it." Miku suggested with a comforting smile.
"Fine," conceded Naoko. "We won't run away. But that doesn't mean I'll like it!"
"That's right! We won't like it!" affirmed Akane.
"That's alright. Papa and I can only ask that you try it," Miku said.
"Anyway, it's time for what this inn is named for, its hot spring. Naoko, you're with me," exclaimed Fuutarou.
"And you're with me, Akane. I hope you're excited!"
The twins cheered.
(-)
On Fuutarou's side of the outside spring, Naoko was swimming around while Fuutarou was soaking in the pool, reminiscing. 'Remembering all the crazy stuff that we all got up to is strange looking back. Nino storming in here in just a towel was a real crisis situation that I averted. At this point, I had no idea how to tell them apart when all of them looked like Itsuki.'
'I remember thinking that it's impossible to tell them apart at that point. It was only until Grandpa Nakano pushed me in the right direction that I knew.'
"Hey, Naoko. Don't swim that far out!" Fuutarou yelled, mindful of Naoko swimming off alone and getting into trouble.
"Fine, fine!" Naoko said, swimming towards his dad.
On Miku's side, Akane was intent on talking to Miku the entire time.
"Wah- you were here with papa before?"
"Yes," Miku said, her voice filled with the emotion of a parent trying to entertain their child, "We were visiting my grandfather, but to you it would be your great grandfather. Anyway, your father and I had a lot going on at that point, but we eventually got to the point where he could find me."
The statement confused the red-head munchkin. "He found you? So you were lost?"
Miku pointed a finger to her chin, contemplating her word choice. "Yes, I was very lost. Since I look so similar to your Aunt Nino, Itsuki, Ichika, and Yotsuba, I was worried your father wouldn't be able to recognize you."
"What?" Akane exclaimed in a shocked manner, "You and Aunt Nino, Itsuki, Ichika, and Yotsuba look nothing alike!"
Miku laughed at Akane's indignation. "Maybe to you, but to your father, it took a while before he could tell us apart."
Akane huffed, "But papa can tell you all apart now. What changed?"
Miku's cheeks went pink at the question as she fumbled her fingers together. With a sly smile she explained, "Well, from what I hear, only those with love could tell the difference, so I guess he just started opening his heart to us."
"So, papa and you didn't have love at first sight?" It was an innocent question, one borne from fairy tales.
With an understanding smile, Miku ruffled Akane's hair and said, "No, in fact, I didn't exactly care for your father back in the day at all."
A surprised Akane widened her eyes and said, "Wooow. What about papa?"
"Well," Miku started, recalling old Fuutarou, "Your father was a bit prideful and antisocial, so he didn't want to deal with me either, but since circumstances he do, he complied."
"Well, what got you and papa together?" Akane was invested in when she could cheer for her mother and father's union.
"Ah, well, if you want to know that, then you'll have to wait til tomorrow," Miku said with a teasing smirk. Poking Akane's nose, Miku clarified, "We're visiting an important place then."
Akane's lips shifted quickly into a pout. "That's not fair Mama! I don't want to wait that long!"
Laughing, The older Uesugi consoled the younger.
(-)
Fuutarou and Miku, as quietly as they could, walked over to the hallways of the inn, opting to sit by and enjoy the moonlight. "Laying the kids to bed wasn't that hard, Fuutarou. You should've believed me when I told you they would go right to sleep," Miku commented.
Fuutarou coughed. "I didn't think they'd fall asleep so readily since this is an unfamiliar place for them."
"Well, they did," Miku said, smugly. "Now that they're sleeping, I guess that means we can enjoy our time together."
"The moon is quite beautiful tonight. I guess it is the perfect place to spend a late night with someone, especially one as beautiful as you."
"Fu fu fu. You're quite the charmer now aren't you." Miku let out a small laugh. "But what's more beautiful, the moon or me?"
"Hmm, the moon doesn't pay the bills, so I'm going to have to say you," Fuutarou teased.
Miku's face matched her daughter's earlier one in that she pouted. "That wasn't exactly what I wanted you to say, but I guess I'll take it."
The two sat in a comfortable silence, Miku's head on Fuutarou's shoulder, Fuutarou's head leaning on her head. It wasn't often when the two could just sit down and spend time together unless it was late at night. Growing a family usually means there's a lack of private time.
"So," Fuutarou started, "How do you think Pops-In-Law appreciated us dropping in?"
"Fufufu, as much as he tries to show his displeasure, it ends up with the opposite effect. I think he's definitely weak to Akane and Naoko. He's ended up being a very doting grandparent."
Grasping her hand tightly, Fuutarou said, "I'm sure your mom would've been a doting grandparent as well."
Miku returned the gesture. "Well I'm sure that your mom would've added to all the doting as much as my mom would."
Letting out a sigh, the two of them sat there, looking at the bright full moon together.
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow?" Fuutarou asked. It wasn't his job to pick the events of the day.
Miku gave a wink. "Of course I have plans!" Putting her fingers together, she said, "Let's just say that tomorrow we'll be going down memory lane."
Giving her a tender side arm hug, pulling her closer to him, Fuutarou commented, "I just hope we don't stop by embarrassment avenue."
Chuckling at his lame joke, Miku simply smiled and replied, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you just show off your cool side more often." Frowning at her own statement, Miku said, "Hmm, actually, now that I think about it, I think you're cool all the time."
Miku looked to see Fuutarou's reaction, but a hand came over her eyes. It was Fuutarou's hand as his face was bright red. 'I can't believe she's still making me flustered at this age. It was always her intense feelings that I couldn't deal with.'
Once he felt he got his face under control, he unblinded her eyes and muttered, "When did you get so cheeky?"
"I don't know, actually," Miku shrugged, "Maybe seeing Ichika act like that in some of her movies has influenced me."
"Pft, funny how a world-class actor like her can be your sister." Fuutarou said.
"Right? Don't neglect my other sisters though. Yotsuba training for Olympic track and field is nothing to sniff at. And as much as Itsuki will try to deny it, she's made more success as a food critic than as a teacher, although she does love teaching."
Fuutarou shook his head. "I can't believe these troublesome quintuplets are this successful. Even I notice the Nakano brand of clothing that Nino has released recently. You quints sure are something," Fuutarou said.
"And you love us all?" Miku asked, her head upturned to him expectedly.
"Them as a brother now, but you in another way."
"Ara?" Miku let out, "In what way exactly? I hope Raiha isn't losing her brother to my sisters."
"She's not. I think Yotsuba would have something to say if she felt that way," Fuutarou joked before regaining returning to a semi-serious tone. Fuutarou gave a small point in Miku's direction. "I like you in a romantic way. A romantic love." He poked Miku's nose after his statement and chuckled.
Miku laughed along with him. "What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing. It seems like I've just gone down memory lane just now," Fuutarou said, leaning closer to his wife with a comfortable air between them.
(-)
Two out of breath munchkins couldn't help but let out moans at their discomfort. "How many more steps do we have to climb?" Naoko asked.
"I'm sooo tired. Carry me Papa!" Akane demanded.
"Ooh, carry me too!" Naoko added.
"Fine, fine," Fuutarou conceded. He kneeled down to allow them up on his shoulders. "Akane, you get on my left shoulder and Naoko, you get on my right."
"Okkkk" the two drawled out their acceptance.
Fuutarou made sure that he had a firm grasp on them. Feeling them secured, Fuutarou said, "And up we go!"
The two small redheads let out a "Wooow" and a "Cool!" at their new height. Fuutarou wasn't winded in the slightest at carrying them.
"You're sure spoiling them a lot," Miku giggled with a challenging tone.
"I'm just trying to show off to my lovely wife my new strength," Fuutarou deadpanned.
"Yes, your strength that you only got when I joined you at the gym. If I recall, you weren't able to bring yourself to nearly the amount of motivation level needed to keep a consistent workout regimen without my presence."
"Why of course. I needed to be reminded of who I'm doing it for," Fuutarou said.
With a light blush, Miku scolded, "You were supposed to be doing it for yourself."
Fuutarou gave a look to his two enamored kids on his shoulders and back down to his wife and said, "Well even if I was supposed to be doing it for myself, having your there to cheer me on certainly helped," Fuutarou said, sneaking in a quick peck on the cheek.
There weren't many steps left to climb and amidst the flirting, it took longer than necessary to get to the top, not that any of the Uesugis minded.
The sight from the top showed off the beautiful landscape of Himakajima: vast blue oceans wide as the eye could see, the wonderfully green wildlife that could be seen around, and the weather being just right for a bright sunny day. But that wasn't what caught little Akane's eye.
"It's a bell!" she pointed out.
"You're right!" encouraged Miku. Fuutarou allowed the two a closer look down at their own height. There was nothing else here except the view beyond the railings and the bell.
"Why're we here?" asked Naoko, curiously.
"We're here because we wanted to show you a place that means a lot to your father and I. It was only by coincidence, but we had our first kiss here!"
The two kids had varying responses. "Bleh, who cares," commented Naoko.
"Awww, this is what you were supposed to tell me yesterday!" Akane cheered, eager to hear more from her mother.
"First, you," Fuutarou pointed to Naoko, "You might end up caring so sit tight. Second, you," he pointed to Akane, "Have you been getting stories told from your mother about our past?" he said in a mock-scolding voice.
Naoko harrumped and Akane let out the largest giggle from Fuutarou's question. "For your information, she's been enjoying listening about our past," Miku said, teasing Fuutarou with her disappointed tone.
Fuutarou just decided to let the joke drop. "Err fine then. Let's hear the story of our first kiss then. Go on," Fuutaoru urged, sitting cross legged while his children followed suit.
Miku let out a light giggle at Fuutarou's antics. "Very well. From my perspective it was the last day of our vacation to my grandfather's inn as at the time, Toraiwa Hot Springs was his. Anyway, I was dressed up as my sister for my grandfather's sake as that's how we presented ourselves to him before."
"Were you dressed up as Aunt Ichika?" Akane asked.
"No, I bet it was Aunt Nino," Naoko said.
"It was neither. I and everyone else was dressed up as Aunt Itsuki."
Akane and Naoko seemed to try to visualize that for themselves and in a few seconds, it was as if a light had turned on in their brains. "So, you all had glasses on?" Akane asked.
Miku let out a small laugh at their enthusiasm. "Not exactly. Aunt Itsuki didn't wear glasses back then unless she was studying. That's not the point though, so I think we should move on with the story."
"Oook," Naoko and Akane said.
"So," Miku said, "Seeing how it was the last day of the trip and Fuutarou was having trouble telling me and my sisters apart, I decided to give myself some confirmation."
"Confirm- ashion?" Naoko asked.
"Confirmation," Fuutarou explained, "It means she wanted to prove something was the way it was."
"Yes, and I wanted to prove that Fuutarou could recognize me," Miku said. "So, I walked up these steps, finding Fuutarou alone, and I stared at him."
"You did a little more than that," Fuutarou accused.
"Perhaps," Miku admitted, "I did end up leaning too far into you."
"And?" Akane asked, excited to hear what happened next. "What next?"
"I ended up pushing over your father and I over and upon us dropping into the ground, We happened to kiss." Miku stated with a smile.
"Wooooah!" Akane said, surprised by the course of events.
"So, your first kiss was an accident?" Naoko asked.
"Yep, also, your father was severely confused at the time of who it was even though he had just recognized who I was earlier that day!" Miku said with an over-the-top tone.
"Papa, you really messed up, huh?" Akane noted, stunned at her father's previous behavior.
Fuutarou shrugged his shoulders, bringing up his arms in the process. "I had recognized Miku at that moment. I just didn't want to believe it for myself. I wasn't exactly looking for a relationship at that moment."
"You see, that's where you're wrong," Miku said, and then whispered the rest to Akane to finish.
"You didn't find a relationship, a relationship found you!" Akane said, looking up to her mother for praise. Miku quickly affirmed her belief that she deserved praise by patting her head.
Fuutarou saw that Naoko was trying to act like he was disinterested in the ongoing conversation, but actually was very interested, so he grabbed the boy and put him into his lap. "You know what I have to say to that?" Fuutarou said, whispering the rest of his message to Naoko.
Naoko continued the message. "You're right that a relationship found me. I guess I made a mistake, but hey, mistakes are only the stepping stones to success."
Fuutarou chuckled at his own joke and Miku let out a pout at those words being brought up again. Although the twins had little idea what significance those words held, Fuutarou and Miku had a small moment with each other, a stream of memories flowing to the two of them.
"So, you succeeded, right?" Miku asked, a cheeky smile adorning her face.
Fuutarou took in the sight of his two kids and his wife. For a second there, a flash of 4 additional similar figures to his wife surrounded them. Fuutarou smiled and enveloped them all in a hug.
"You got it!"