Finding himself in bizarre and unusually awkward situations was hardly anything new to him. Having said that, being the center of attention of four identical sisters was hardly how he imagined himself to be when he accepted the tutoring part-time job that Sakura-san offered him.

How the Boss even got him this job to begin with? He honestly had no clue.

He didn't think there was any point in asking at the time—he's definitely gonna have a few questions for the man once he gets back.

At first he didn't considered this to be a hard job—he was quite good at academics and was one of the top-students back in his hometown—but having these four young girls' expectant gazes fixed on him was starting to make him believe otherwise.

It didn't help matters one a bit that one of the girls was looking at him somewhat fearfully. The other one with the large ribbon on her head was wearing a smile that was way too big to fit her face while the one with the headphones didn't seem even the slightest bit interested.

The last one of the four was practically burning holes into his head with her glare alone.

The only thing keeping his mind distracted from the awkward silence was the ticking sound of a clock somewhere in the room—where exactly? That wasn't important. Knowing that he couldn't allow this to continue any further, he cleared his throat in an attempt to gather their attention.

"As you all already know, I'm going to be working with you from today forth." He looked across the coffee table and smiled, trying to light up the mood. "Though I believe there's still someone who isn't here just yet."

"Th-that would be Ichika," the girl with red hair and star-shaped hairpins spoke up. If he remembered correctly, her name was Itsuki. "Sh-she's upstairs, probably still asleep."

"I see," Ren said. "I should probably go get her then–" he was immediately cut off by the girl with the reddish pink hair and ribbons.

"I'll go wake her up." The girl who answered the door—the same one who's been glaring daggers at him the whole time—stood up before marching up the stairs.

If he wasn't wrong, her name was Nino.

This of course left him alone with three sisters.

Feeling something snuggle against his leg, he spotted Morgana's head peeking outside of his bag. "That girl sure doesn't seem to like you, huh?" His head was out just enough for him to see, but not too much for there to be a risk of being discovered.

The cat—no matter how much Morgana denied being called as such—insisted to come along. While there wasn't much left for him to do here, he wanted to see what his new job was all about, so there was no changing the little guy's mind.

Heaving a silent sigh, Ren adjusted his glasses before turning back to the matter at hand. "So, while we wait for your sisters, does anyone have any questions?

The girl with the bunny-like ribbon—whose name he remembered as Yotsuba—shot her hand up in an instant. "I do! I do, Amamiya-sensei!" Her eyes darted around as if making sure no one could listen before whispering to his ear, "Is it true about what they say? D-do you really have a criminal record?"

There was no clear reaction, but there was a subtle change in the look of his eyes. The frizzy-haired teen felt tense, not expecting to be at the receiving end of such a sudden question—even Morgana couldn't help but carry an uneasy look at the girl's blunt words.

Itsuki stood up, her hands straight out smacking the small table in the process. "Y-Yotsuba! Th-that's a rude thing to ask!" she scolded her sister, though panic leaked into her voice at the same time.

It didn't take a genius to know that being rude was the least of her concerns.

Surprisingly, after having been silent for most of the time, Miku barged into the conversation. "People are saying that you're under probation." Her gaze met his with a stern look. "That isn't a lie, is it?"

Their eyes locked with each other, and neither of the two wavered.

Ren wasn't gonna lie, but he was impressed by how long she was able to keep her eyes on him. He was often told that he had an intimidating gaze, which is why he choose to wear glasses nowadays despite not having an actual need for them. Still, to see her holding her own this long without looking away was an impressive feat.

"This girl is hard to read." Morgana murmured.

Yotsuba's ribbon twitched. "Huh, did anybody hear that?" She looked around in confusion. "I could've sworn I heard a cat's meowing."

The tension suddenly dropped thanks to Yotsuba's random ramblings. Miku responded with a shrug while Itsuki gave them a puzzled look. He didn't say anything of course, and instead pushed Morgana deeper into the bag, fearing that his cover may be blown.

He hoped that Yotsuba might have gotten them to drop the subject, but he didn't have such luck.

Someone already had different plans in mind.

"Yeah, I'm sure we all would like to know about that as well," Nino said, walking down the stairs with a yawning Ichika following closely behind.

He tried to keep his eyes away from Ichika—that girl was wearing her clothes way too loosely that it almost seemed as if they'll fall at any given moment. It was disturbingly inappropriate and he would rather avoid getting himself in trouble if he can help it.

His back was against a wall here. He was well aware of this and there was no way to avoid it. At this point there was no use in lying either, so he answered truthfully. "I won't deny that," he said, looking directly at Nino. "It's true. I do have a criminal record."

"Hmph, at least you're honest." Nino said as she sat down on the sofa. "But if that's true, then how come papa thought that hiring you was a good idea in the first place?"

Ichika pondered for a second. "Hmm, I have to give it to Nino-chan. She does bring a fair point," she said before sending the frizzy-haired boy an apologetic look. "Not that I'm judging you or anything."

"Maybe Amamiya-sensei is just so smart that even dad had no choice but to hire him?" Yotsuba offered, though her sisters weren't buying it.

"I-I don't think that's it, Yotsuba," Itsuki responded. Her eyes shyly strayed away from him.

Aware that the conversation would lead them nowhere, Ren knew that he had to speak up. "I know that you probably have your own doubts about me." His eyes went from one sister to another as he continued, "I also never intended to bring up my situation, mostly because I knew that doing so would only hinder our lessons if you were to start distrusting me." His gaze dropped slightly. "But I'm afraid that that may now be unavoidable."

Ren could see them exchange looks as they felt unsure of what to make of what he was saying—to be fair he couldn't fully blame them. He understood that having a complete stranger as a tutor could be a hard thing to accept, let alone if that someone had the same age as them, but regardless, he still needed to get his point across.

"I already spoke with your father, and he's aware of my situation. If anything, he was more concerned about wanting me to put you up to date with your studies than my actual background. And I'll be the first one to admit that I don't have much experience when it comes to teaching, but if there's anything that I can do to help you pass the year with flying colors, then I'll do it," he stated. "And if you cannot trust me as a person, then at least trust that I will do my job."

There were distinct reactions across the girls' faces.

Ichika still didn't appeared to be too interested while Miku chose to remain silent. Yotsuba of course looked as eager as ever, though Nino's frown remained unchanged. Itsuki on the other hand seemed to have taken his words a little bit differently than the rest. Her fearful look appeared to have lessen quite a bit.

He let out a small smile in return and said, "How about some coffee?

Chapter 1: First Session

Yotsuba took a small sip from her hot cup before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Ah! This tastes amazing, Amamiya-sensei!"

"Yeah," Ichika said, looking far more awake than before—and thankfully dressed more appropriately. "I didn't realized that we had coffee this good."

Standing behind the kitchen bar, Ren was nearly done with the last cup. "It all depends on the way you prepare it," he said. "And please, no need to be so formal, Yotsuba-san. Just call me Ren."

He'll have to thank Sojiro again for teaching him a couple of his coffee-making techniques. He was still learning the basics, and while he hasn't been learning for that long, he was rather proud of his own progress.

Seeing the girls enjoying the coffee that he made sure brought up a sense of accomplishment.

Just like before, Miku has remained quiet throughout most of the hour, but the slight pink tint on her cheeks was impossible to miss. No words were needed to be said. Just seeing her eyes alone trying to avoid meeting his own was a clear giveaway that she too was enjoying her own drink despite not wanting to admit it.

Itsuki too was more calm around him. While she was essentially the shyest out of the five, she looked far less tense than before. Whatever the cause for that may be, she was now easier to approach and was even willingly accept a cup from him.

"As expected from our leader," Mona said proudly.

Ren fixed his glasses. "It was nothing," he responded once he was done.

"Seriously, is there a cat around here somewhere?" Yotsuba asked again. Her eyes darted around the room in suspicion, but none of her sisters paid her any mind.

Unsurprisingly, the only one who seemed to reject his offer for coffee was none other than Nino. The young girl has practically been looking at her phone the entire time, as if completely ignoring the fact that they were in the same room.

Approaching her was an option, but it was clear since the very beginning that she wanted nothing to do with him. He opted to not push his luck and let her have her own space. There's still much that needed to be taken care of before he can start focusing on each of the girls individually.

Moving to sit down across the small coffee table, Ren spoke up, "Now that we're all here and awake, I believe that it's about time we start." He pulled a stack of papers out of his bag. "First things first, I would like to know where exactly you're standing on, so I put up a small mock test for you to solve."

He saw the expressions on both of Miku and Ichika's faces grimace. Even Yotsuba seemed nervous despite being the one whose tried her hardest to motivate her sisters, but it would seem that even she had trouble keeping her own spirits in check.

Surprisingly, it was Itsuki who seemed the most determined. Her eyes adopted a serious and even went as far as to pull a pair of glasses from out of nowhere, looking ready to face the challenge head on.

Nino merely scoffed. "Yeah, right. I pass on that," she said as she stood up from the couch.

"N-Nino, wait–! But we're just about to start!" Yotsuba called out for her, but was completely ignored.

Ren recognized that there was nothing to be done that could change Nino's mind. She marched all the way up the stairs, sending him one final glare before she slammed the door to her room shut.

"Yikes! That girl sure doesn't like you, huh?" Morgana mumbled. "What did you do to make her that mad?"

He shook his head, feeling just as lost as him. For whatever reason, Nino bears an especially ill will towards him. He couldn't recall doing anything that could have offended her in any way during the brief time they met, so maybe there wasn't a special reason for it.

He couldn't avoid letting out a mental sigh. Whatever the case, I better get this show on the road.

Take Your Time

Everything went pretty much the way she expected them to go.

It was all a complete, and colossal failure.

Miku would hardly rise her hopes up whenever it comes to this sort of thing, and this time it was no different. The test results were, well, for lack of a better word, disappointing to say the least.

She was already expecting something like this to happen, but that didn't make it any the less painful to watch. Her most recent scores have plummeted to a degree that she could hardy care anymore, and she doubted that she was the only one out of her sisters who felt the same way.

So what good will a tutor even do?

With that in mind, what was her opinion of their new tutor?

Well, to put it bluntly, he looked pretty average. There was nothing impressive about him, and even during class she couldn't say that she would have spared him a second glance had it not been for Nino and those rumors that were going around about him.

Miku could agree that he must be at least somewhat smart. However, learning that he has a criminal record was like a whole 180 degree turn to the entire perspective that she had on him. It was honestly shocking to think that the same person who was now seating in front of them was also a criminal.

I guess looks can really be deceiving, Miku thought with unease.

It was surprising to hear that he was capable of the things that the rumors said. She was more than aware that a lot of them must be nothing but just that—rumors, but she also knew that there must be some level of true in at least some of them. Nevertheless, she was still wary of him.

She didn't think that he was a bad person, but she's been proven wrong before.

At the moment he was looking at their test results. Her eyes caught sight of the bead of sweat that glistened like pearl, rolling down the side of his face. "Not exactly what I was expecting, but I guess I can work with that."

"Y-you really think so?" Itsuki asked, trying to not sound too hopeful despite their humiliating defeat.

At the question, Ren nodded in assurance, much to Itsuki's apparent joy.

"That's good, I guess," Ichika trailed off with a loud yawn.

"Yeah!" Yotsuba cheered. "I feel like I'm getting smarter now!"

Miku gave her upbeat sister a blank look. "But we haven't learned anything yet."

"It's a good start. This gives me a better insight of what we can improve, so we can go from there in our next session," he stated, putting the tests sheets inside his bag. "How are you finding Shujin so far by the way?

Ichika pondered. "It's… okay? I can't really say much other that the atmosphere seems somewhat tense for my liking."

Miku shrugged and replied "It's alright, I guess," but didn't offered much of an opinion.

Itsuki gave it a little bit more thought. "Well, the school looks nice, and Kawakami-sensei seems like a good teacher," she admitted with a smile. "I had some trouble with a few subjects, but the way she explained things to me made it so much easier to understand."

Yotsuba let out a short laugh. "Hehe, I wish I could say the same. I didn't really get most of what she said at all," she said with an awkward smile. "I guess I really am dummy, aren't I?"

The frizzy-haired tutor shook his head. "You're being too harsh on yourself," he said. "You may have some problems understanding the subjects, but that happens to everybody. As long as we work on it, I'm confident you'll do fine in the coming exams."

The ribbon-wearing quintuplet seemed taken back by his words. "I… Th-thank you…" she stuttered, not really sure how to respond to his encouragement. Miku could almost swear that she saw pink in Yotsuba's cheeks. "Th-that reminds me, I'm actually aiming to join the volleyball team later this week. I heard someone say that they're gonna be looking for new members soon, so I'll have my chance!"

It was brief, but Miku managed to caught a glimpse of their tutor's face becoming tense. It was there for a only a fraction of a second before it completely vanished. "I see," he said, acting as if nothing happened. "But won't extracurricular activities take time away from studying?"

Yotsuba let out an weak chuckle. "Hehe, I thought that too, but as soon as I heard that there was a volleyball team, I just couldn't help myself," she admitted before quickly adding, "B-but I promise that I won't be slacking off during our lessons!"

His face remained unreadable. "In that case I wish you the best of luck."

The girl with the ribbon stared back at him in surprise before beaming in joy. "Thank you very much, Ren-sensei!" she said with a thumps-up. "You know, some of the other girls in the class were saying some really mean things about you, but you're actually really cool!"

"Thanks… I guess," he responded while he fixed his glasses. There was embarrassment in his voice and he tried to not let it show.

The rest of the afternoon was spend reviewing their tests results, with him mostly giving them some advise on how to improve in certain areas.

Miku had to admit, having someone explain these things was actually helpful. She wouldn't say that she no longer had any issues with this whole tutoring business, but she will admit that he was easier to understand than most teachers.

However, despite his positives aspects, there was still something that didn't sit right about him.

She didn't understand why, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something amiss about him. Maybe it was how he reacted to what Yotsuba said, or even how he was putting too much effort into his job as a tutor—either way, there was definitely something strange about him, but she couldn't exactly tell what.

Take Your Time

"I'm so beat." Yotsuba slumped over the table. "I feel like my brain is about to explode!"

Ichika yawned as she got comfortable on the coach. "Yeah, tell me about it. I feel sooo exhausted right now."

"You're always tired, Ichika," Itsuki pointed out with a small laugh. "But I do admit, it wasn't as bad as It thought it would be."

"Hmm, I guess so," the older sister replied. A mischievous smile then graced her lips. "Though I must say, you were certainly eager to learn from our new tutor, weren't you, Itsuki-chan?"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about…" Itsuki turned her head away with a cute pout.

Ichika could not see her face anymore but she was certain that Itsuki was at least slightly flustered.

Their tutor left not long ago once their study session concluded. Being already late, he opted to not intrude any longer than necessary and left them to their own devices.

"I see that guy finally left." From the second floor, Nino leaned over with a scowl in her face.

"Why does Ren-sensei bother you so much, Nino?" Yotsuba asked.

Nino scoffed in response. "Because he has no business here, thats why."

Itsuki gave her sister a strange look. "Aren't you being a little unfair? We all agreed to give him a chance, don't you remember?"

"That was before we found out that our tutor was a criminal," Nino retorted.

"But he isn't so bad," Yotsuba said cheerfully. "I actually think he's a nice person!"

Nino furrowed her brow. "You literally just met him. How can you be sure that this isn't all just an act to earn our dad's paycheck?"

"I… I don't know. I just think so…" Yotsuba mumbled, flinching under Nino's intensive glare.

"Now, now. There's no need to be so mean to Yotsuba, Nino-chan," the older sister said as she stepped in, patting her sister on the back.

"Stay out of this, Ichika." Nino turned her glare at her. "You have no say in this when you pretty much spend the whole thing sleeping around."

Ichika pouted. "I'd have you know that I was awake… most of the time."

While the sisters continued bickering with each other, Yotsuba realized something.

"Hey, has anybody seen Miku?"

Take Your Time

"Something bothering you?" Morgana asked, having notice how odd the frizzy-haired teen has been acting ever since they left the building.

"It's nothing."

The feline knew better than to accept such a blatant lie. In fact, he already had a pretty good idea of what was troubling his friend. "Its about that Yotsuba girl, isn't it?"

Having hit the nail on the head, Ren nodded after a moment of silence.

"You have nothing to worry about. As long as we execute the heist like we planned, that treasure is as good as ours," Morgana reassured him. "Besides, considering who their father is, I'm pretty sure even Kamoshida would think twice before laying a hand on any of them."

"I would rather not take any chances," he said. His eyes adopted a determined look. "We'll send the calling card as soon as we complete the infiltration. After that, we'll take his treasure and put an end to Kamoshida for good."

"Whatever time you think is right, I'm all for it," Morgana agreed.

Unknown to them, a certain girl has been listening to their conversation for a while—though for her, she was only able to hear Ren's voice.

Miku went down to the lobby to pick up their new uniforms not long after their tutor left, but she was surprised to find him still outside and was apparently talking with someone. She couldn't help but be a little bit curious, so she tried to lean closer to hear who he was talking to, but to no success.

What she was able to hear however, as vague as it was, was enough to put her on edge.

The frizzy-haired delinquent was talking as if he was preparing to commit a crime. And who was this Kamoshida he spoke about with so much disdain? Every word he said left her even more confused than before.

Infiltration? Treasure? Miku thought to herself in wonder. Just what exactly is going on here?

Take Your Time

Nakano Maruo heaved a tired sigh, having just finished a call with a very much displeased daughter of his.

Nino didn't seem too happy with his choice for their tutor, and while he understood her concerns, he trusted that he made the right choice. Likewise, he was apprehensive at first about hiring the boy, but Sakura-san's recommendation wasn't something that he could just ignore.

He knew the man from years back, so he at least trusted his judgment.

Learning that the boy was also one of the top students at his old school was enough to make him at least consider looking into the his background, and much to his own surprise, he found a couple of interesting things.

Knowing a number of contacts who worked in the legal system, it was fairly easy to get information related to his case, and he instantly grew suspicious once he looked over the copy of the files on the assault charges against Amamiya Ren.

"Where's the name of the victim?"

He reread the whole thing to ascertain he wasn't missing anything, but there wasn't much information to begin with. As a doctor, he naturally checked for anything related to the victim, but there were no medical reports to justify the severity either.

No matter where he looked, everything about this looked suspicious. It was obvious that the boy was framed.

It was concerning that someone would go to such lengths to basically destroy someone's life like this—a child no less. However, this helped confirm that Amamiya was no criminal, so that at least managed to convinced him to hire the boy for the job.

For the time being he will observe the boy's progress with attention, and if there were no improvements in the coming exams, then he will hire someone else to do the job.

Chapter End

Nino, due to her own circumstances, will distrust anybody who gets too close to her and her sisters. That's pretty much accurate to her character. Itsuki on the other hand would have been more open to having a tutor had she not gotten a bad first impression with Fuutarou.

Anyway, I'm sorry if it took this long to get an update. Hopefully next chapter won't take nearly as long.