Chapter 5?
Futaro's POV:
"W-well, the thing is…" Nino quickly inhaled, seemingly preparing herself for what she was about to apologize for, perhaps even nervous for the response she may get.
"IsortadruggedyoubecauseIthoughtyoumadItsukicryandIsortamaybekindafeelbadaboutit!"
However, she blurted out her apology so incredibly quickly that it was all but lost on the boy it was directed towards, who just stood there dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what was said.
'huh?'
"Ok, I'm going to need you to slow down and go at this again because I couldn't get any of that."
"Ugh, I put stuff in your drink to knock you out and I feel bad about it, ok!" shouted back Nino, seemingly defensive after hearing that Futaro couldn't understand her first attempt at an apology.
"Oh, I see." was the only response that Nino received, not because Futaro was truly upset with the quintuplet, but more so dumbfounded at the lengths she went to keep him away.
'I guess I really have my work cut out for me, don't I? This job just keeps getting more and more troublesome.'
"Is that it? I worked up my courage and I swallowed my pride just for an 'I see'? Shouldn't you be upset at me or something? Mad at what I did? Can't you have an actual reaction or do you just not care about what I have to say?"
'Erk'
Not having expected the quintuplet to explode on him for his response, or perhaps an excuse of one, Futaro was now the one apologizing to his student, which was rather ironic to say the least.
"I'm sorry? I guess I just didn't really know what to say. I'm sort of bewildered at what you admitted to doing more than anything."
Nino was taken aback at such an honest response, not knowing how she is supposed to respond to something that isn't anger at her recent actions, and thus was quiet for a moment before quickly retorting.
"W-well I'm sorry, ok! You can come and tutor my sisters, but if you do anything that hurts them, you'll have me to deal with!"
"Ok, that's what I planned on doing in the first place, although it would be extremely beneficial if you'd join us."
Nino only scoffed at this offer, finding it almost an insult.
"Ha, fat chance buddy. I don't need a tutor."
Futaro perked at this. "Oh? Is that so? How's about I give you a little test, and if you score less than a 50, you have to come to my sessions? Seems like a good deal right?"
"Why would I do that? Not a chance."
'I figured…'
At this failed attempt to win Nino over to the side of tutoring, the two walked silently towards Futaro's home. Every now and then Nino would be startled by something rustling in a bush nearby, and Futaro would perhaps mock her and her frightful nature of the dark, only to be met with insults from the recipient, but in short nothing eventful happened between the two until they arrived at his place of living.
'Ah this is so embarrassing. A rich princess like her must be holding back laughter at where I live.'
However, when arriving at the tutor's place of residence, some noteworthy events did seem to take place, all starting with the arrival of a little girl sharing a resemblance with Futaro.
"Onii-chan!" yelled Riaha as she ran to hug her brother, who gratefully returned the hug, happy to see his little sister after a very eventful day dealing with some very difficult quintuplets. Riaha then broke off from her older brother and quickly took note of the other body standing next to her brother.
"Oh! Onii-chan, is this one of your students?"
"Hmpph, he wishes I wer-" began Nino, ready to deny the fact that Futaro was technically her tutor, and she his student. However she was quickly cut off by her tutor that she had been so prepared to denounce.
"Y-yes! And she was walking me home because that's how kind she is!"
Nino then leaned towards Futaro whispering "What are you saying? I thought I made it clear that I wasn't going to join your tutoring group?"
"Just go along with it, or else Riaha will be sad!" hissed back Futaro before looking at a smiling Riaha, happy to hear that her brother's job is going well.
Nino only pouted at the fact that she'd have to shove her pride aside for the second time tonight and behave as if the man before her really was her tutor, however short she'd have to keep up this lie.
"That's great! Onii-chan, bring your friend in for dinner, I made extra curry tonight!"
Both students were taken aback by this, neither expecting the offer to eat dinner together, and both were determined to politely decline said offer.
"I-I think she's good Riaha, she has to get home. Right Nino?"
"Y-yeah! I'd love to stay, but I have to go make dinner for my sisters, although judging with how late it is, I guess I'd be best to pick something up instead." said Nino, bringing up an actual good excuse to decline the invitation.
However, this excuse was met with deaf ears, and Riaha had no intention of taking no for an answer. Her brother hadn't brought anyone home from school for as long as she could remember. And a girl too! She wouldn't let this opportunity by, and quickly put on her best puppy dog eyes.
"Y-you don't want to eat with us?"
"Why didn't you say no!"
"I tried! But I can't stand up to those eyes!"
"Damn it!"
Yes, Nino almost immediately caved in to Riaha's puppy dog eyes, and thus has a short conversation with Futaro whilst walking into his tiny apartment.
'At least I can find some solace that dad isn't here right now.'
However, said solace was quickly dashed as he saw an older version of himself with blonde hair sitting at the table at the center of the room.
'Shit.'
Having noticed the door open, Isanari went to wave at his son welcoming him home, but quickly stopped short after seeing a beautiful young girl following him inside, which was definitely not something to be expected of his son.
"I can't believe the day finally came where Futaro brought a girl home! Gahaha!" boomed the patriarch of the Uesugi household, slapping his son on the back, seemingly proud of him.
'...damn it dad.'
Futaro looked downright embarrassed at this turn of events, whereas Nino had an amused look at her tutor's situation, finding it comical the way his father teased him. Very different from how her own father would converse with her and her sisters, she thought.
Nino's POV:
However these were not the only thoughts floating through Nino's head, as she quickly took notice of her tutor's father, finding him extremely handsome. Her type, in fact.
'That's what Uesugi will look like in the future? He's the spitting image of my ideal man!'
"Oh! This milk expired 10 days ago! Glad I got to it before it went bad!" boomed Isanari as he began to gulp down the expired milk bottle.
"D-dad" was all Futaro had to say, outright wishing he was dead.
'T-this is the lifestyle he lives? No wonder he isn't mad at me. There's no way he'd want to lose this job.' was Nino's immediate reaction.
"It's almost heated up now! You got back a little later than expected, so it was a bit cold when you got here!" announced Riaha, slowly heating up the curry she has become well accustomed to making. "Did you do a good job tutoring?"
This sudden question both shook Nino and Futaro, the latter not knowing what to tell his sister, either the truth that he failed to really successfully teach his students, or perhaps lie for her well being.
However Nino was one who knew how to read a room, and quickly lied in consideration for Riaha's feelings.
"Yes, it went fine enough. Although your brother could do a better job at controlling himself around someone as beautiful as myself."
"Onii-chan!"
"D-don't listen to her Riaha! Well, listen to the part about tutoring, but nothing else!" quickly exclaimed Futaro, only to be met with laughter from his father and a smug smirk from Nino.
"Ok then, Food's ready!"
The four of them then began to eat the standard curry that the Uesugi's has become accustomed to, but for Nino it was a delightful treat.
'Why is this so good?!'
"T-this is great! Riaha-chan, do you mind if I take some home for my sister? I'm sure she'd love this!" asked Nino, always one to think about her sisters, no matter what had occurred earlier that evening.
"Sure! I made extra to celebrate Onii-chan's new job!"
"Thanks Riaha! It Tastes as great as always!" beamed Futaro, always one to enjoy his sister's heartfelt cooking.
"Say, Onii-chan, do you think that once our debt is paid off, you can buy some new things for me to make for us?" ask Riaha, who was excited at the thought of being able to make something other than curry.
"Riaha, you shouldn't bring up our issues when guests are around." spoke Futaro, earning an "Oh yeah, my bad!" from Riaha.
'Debt? Is that why he's so adamant on tutoring us?'
And thus, dinner went on, Nino and Isanari getting along swimmingly at their ability to poke fun at Futaro, and Riaha enjoying the atmosphere. And for Futaro himself? He wished he had never woken up.
"Thank you! And please come eat with us again sometime!" waved Riaha as Futaro and Nino walked out of the tiny apartment.
Futaro had planned to let Nino go home by herself, but due to orders from his father saying 'A Uesugi should never let a young lady like the one we have here walk home alone! Never!' and he wouldn't take no for an answer, something Nino found admirable.
'If only Uesugi was more like his dad.'
And so they walked towards the train station that would take Nino home, not really conversing, although Nino herself was in a noticeably better mood.
'Ok, I have to say this now or else I won't be able to bring myself to say it again.'
"Hey, Uesugi."
"Yeah?"
"Just so you know, I AM really sorry about what I did. And…. I'll follow along. I'll do your thing."
Futaro only beamed at this, now believing he has gotten all 5 of his students to agree to his plan and quickly went to hug Nino out of sheer happiness, only to be elbowed into the ground by the defensive redhead.
"Just so you know, it's for your sister, and not you! So hands off!" barked Nino, holding herself, nervous at the thought of being hugged so suddenly by her tutor.
"O-ok…" groaned Futaro, face placed neatly in the concrete.
"Bye Uesugi, and I'll see you tomorrow."
And thus, Nino walked towards the train, ready to go home. However, she had seemingly forgotten one extremely important detail, that detail being that her sisters are all waiting for her to bring home food, and she has only brought home enough for her glutton of a sister.
And so, Nino walked into a disaster of an apartment.
Yotsuba had seemingly passed out due to what she has eaten. Ichika was hiding away from another one of her sisters, Miku, who has a plate and was eager to hear her feedback on it. And Itsuki was sweating bullets on the couch, barely able to hold on without any food, almost deciding to give in to Miku's demands to try her food.
'Man, look at these girls. Just what would they do without me.'
"Hey everyone, I'm home!"
Just as she announced her arrival, Nino was bombarded by Itsuki, who quickly took the curry she held and began to drink it like water.
"N-Nino! Where were you! We're starving! Please tell me you brought more food for everyone!" frantically asked Itsuki, now well aware at the chaos that has occurred not that she's out of her hunger induced trance.
"A-all right I'll make something really quick! Just sit tight!"
"Suddenly, Itsuki's demeanor changed. Where she was just hungry, eagerly awaiting more food, she now seemed embarrassed and was fidgeting her hands slightly.
"A-and u-um, Nino?"
"Yes?"
"I-i'm sorry for how rude I was earlier. I should have been kinder, and I-I feel bad about it. C-can you forgive me?" pleaded Itsuki, looking ashamed at how she acted earlier.
'She's embarrassed at how SHE acted? Why? She was in the right, wasn't she?'
Nino quickly brushed away the thoughts she was having aout how Itsuki had done nothing wrong, and quickly went to give her sister a head pat in reassurance.
"You have nothing to worry about. I was in the wrong. Now why don't you go to the table while I make you something real quick." said Nino, giving a reassuring smile to her younger sister.
"T-thank you Nino!" squeaked out Itsuki before hugging Nino. She then quickly broke said hug and went to the table, eager to eat whatever her sister makes.
'She really worries about everything, doesn't she.'
Itsuki's POV:
After having her fill of Nino's cooking(she ate 5 helpings), and being able to successfully revive Yotsuba from the coma Miku's cooking had put her in, Itsuki had gone to lay in bed after a rather eventful day.
"Hah, things really got out of hand didn't they?"
She thought back to how her tutor had seemingly gained the affection of her older sister Miku in such a short time, but also how he had been drugged by her older sister.
'I hope Uesugi-kun doesn't want to stop associating with me. I should've known there couldn't have been a misunderstanding with what he said Nino told him. It's all my fault, isn't it?'
Negative thoughts such as this flooded Itsuki's head as she attempted to go to sleep, which took a while, but eventually she was able to do so, hoping Uesugi-kun would forgive her for everything she believed she caused.
She also wished to make it up to Nino for being blatantly rude to her. Sure, Nino said she was in the right with how she acted, but Itsuki couldn't shake the feeling that she was just saying that to help her younger sister feel better.
Author's note: Nino gets to meet Riaha! More importantly, she meets Futaro's dad! What will happen when she sees the photo and pieces some things together!? Who knows! MIku's cooking is still crazy, we almost lost Yotsuba! And Itsuki, well Itsuki needs to be less hard on herself! Who'll help her gain more self confidence and break away from her sense of social anxiety? Who knows! Anyway I hope you found this chapter to your liking, reviews are dope, and peace!